Wilobank is committed to financial inclusion, since half of its clients have no credit history. But it advances to be the leader of the sector
14.12.2018 • 16:41hs • First bank 100% digital
First bank 100% digital
Eurnekian´s digital bank already has 22,000 customers: what advantages Wilobank offers for money in savings accounts
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The Fintech sector is growing by leaps and bounds in Argentina: it is estimated that there are already 133 companies that offer purely online financial services in the country and records an annual evolution rate of 110%.
Wilobank is one of the benchmarks in the sector and is touted as the "first digital bank" in the country. Belonging to Corporación América, a holding led by Eduardo Eurnerkian, it offers users a 25% rent on the funds deposited in their savings account.
The bank is headed by Guillermo Francos, who was president of Grupo BAPRO between 2007 and 2010. In dialogue with iProUP, the executive revealed that they already have 22,000 clients and expect to reach 300,000 by 2020.
Wilobank today offers savings, loans and credit cards and plans to launch more products in the coming months. As part of its strategy, it bets to reach those users that are not taken into account by traditional banking.
Many people say that they already have their "digital bank" because they go into home banking, what is the difference with Wilobank?
Home banking is a means, not a digital bank. It is a different concept in which the relationship with the client is not personal, but communicates with a platform through the cell phone.
The one who has home banking happened before by a branch, signed a form, delivered data. He went through several offices and interacted with many people. And when you ask for a loan, they will grant it at a higher rate. And they will not pay you anything for your money in the savings account.
The fundamental difference is that we were born in the digital age. We do not have the costs of a traditional bank. I was president of Banco Provincia, which had about 400 branches and 10,500 agents. This is a huge cost based on the spread between deposits and loans, and commissions. The traditional bank charges for all operations.
What is the differential with traditional banks?
We differ in many things. First, conceptually: we are a bank with a lot of technology and little physical infrastructure and human resources. Our cost is very low, that's why we can offer cheaper products. And we can remunerate their clients their captive savings, something that other banks can not. We give you 25% savings in your money while you have it in the bank.
That caused many people to transfer funds from their accounts to our bank, because where they pay their salary they do not provide a rate like ours. At the end of the month, they have a sum that they would not have had in traditional banking.
We are also a bank that does not charge commissions. That does not mean that at some point, because of the situation in Argentina, we are not forced to do so. Today we have zero commission for opening the account, for maintaining it, for the credit card or for the debit card. That is also an innovation that other banks do not have.
In addition, our commercial products are much cheaper than those of the competition: we charge a lower interest rate than the rest of the system and we charge less interest rate for the financing of the credit card.
What other products do they have in the folder?
We have just launched a credit to a micropymes through a Guarantee Insurance or SGR with Garantizar. And we will continue with credit cards for minors, within what the Central Bank establishes.
We are also working on cards for people who do not qualify. We will grant them a plastic with a small limit and at the bank's risk, with the possibility of it being rechargeable on behalf of the client.
I believe that in the course of the next months we will develop new products to the extent that our platform allows it and we have learned from our users. We have great aspirations.
What are these aspirations?
We are very optimistic about the possibilities of a bank like this, especially in a country like Argentina, which needs strong financial inclusion instruments. We all know that there are many people who do not access banks and the financing of private activity is one of the lowest in Latin America. Without credit, a country does not grow.
We aspire to be an instrument to improve this situation from two modalities: facilitate access and assist sectors with fewer resources that do not have it. Banks sometimes resist offering products to customers who do not have a bank record.
We are not like that. Half of our clients did not have a bank record. We also analyze, because regulation requires it. But we are very open to grant the basic financial instruments such as the savings account and the debit card to any of our clients.
What are the cost differences between a digital bank and a traditional one?
They are absolute. Wilobank operates today with 35 or 40 people. When customers grow, we will have to expand our own datacenter. But the amount of personnel that we will have will be 50 instead of 35.
These are the relationships of our bank. Maybe we need people to develop the product, but not to serve customers. We handle everything electronically.
Are there employees 24 hours?
We are from 9 to 19. But we have a customer service center that is 24 hours a day. We use a messaging system that is working all the time. It is mixed, between bots and staff, where the most complex consultations are attended by a person.
What technologies do they use for the acceptance of the clients?
When a client enters to do an onboarding (incorporation to the platform), several processes are triggered. One is that of Veraz, who makes the credit score, as a prediction of income, where he lives and other parameters that we consider important.
Another is the negative base verification, to verify that it has no problems in the system or is suspected of terrorism or money laundering, something that all banks complete. Then we approve it or not for a loan or a credit card. Debit card we give to whoever asks, as long as it does not qualify negatively.
They do not charge commissions and give interest to the savings account balance, how does Wilobank monetize?
First of all, we are a bank that gives loans. We still do not have a positive volume between deposits and credits. When we have 150,000 loans, the spread will be similar to that of traditional banks, but we will be down because we need a lower ratio.
Commissions do not charge, because we are at a stage where we have to make the bank known. Then we will compete the way we find.
Traditional banking appeals to discounts, points and miles to maintain clients. Also to special promotions to capture salary accounts, what is the loyalty strategy of Wilobank?
We are not particularly interested in salary accounts. The client comes to Wilobank because we give him a good rate in his savings account. You can have your salary account elsewhere and send funds to Wilobank or directly have your account here.
We are going to do promotions like all entities, as we grow. We can not do all that now because the banks pay those benefits. But we have others: we are a bank that has a contactless card, which is not very common in the Argentine market.
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