Walo recently announced an alliance with dale! to launch a fintech that will provide banking services to underserved population segments and facilitate daily financial transactions through a hybrid model.
The plan will count more than 1,500 points of experience throughout Colombia.
In a statement, José Manuel Ayerbe, CEO of dale! says that this alliance aims to reach users with digital solutions with complementary services in physical points, which can have a significant impact on financial inclusion due to the low access to the digitization of this segment of the population.
“Fintechs have undoubtedly arrived to broaden the perspectives regarding financial inclusion and to open more and more collaborative scenarios in the ecosystem under open finance models that enable to find allies in competitors, to offer disruptive services to consumers and new ways of banking,” added Ayerbe.
The issue of digitalization in LatAm
Ayerbe explained that, in LatAm, for many, it is still complex to access 100% of the new digital ecosystems, so relying on physical points contributes to financial education and improving the customer experience “without forgetting that there is a great digital divide, which prevents them from really being part of a financial system, since in the end, it is not only about opening a product, but to know how and what to use it for.”
This new digital solution will be available in January, and users can access the fintech’s services through Walo’s physical points and app.
Another relevant actor in this project is Banco Av Villas, which provides the banking correspondent service to Walo’s physical points.
In this way, users will be able to use the services enabled by the Bank in the physical points to provide a more robust experience to the end user beyond the digital.
An easy-to-use, affordable payments solution
According to David Bedoya, General Manager of Walo, the initiative of these companies sought to create an easy and affordable solution that allows receiving, transferring money, and paying physically or digitally “so that more people can start their financial life with a transparent product in which costs are clear, and users can have control of their budget and expenses in real-time.”
To carry out this financial inclusion bet, Walo invested $7 million.
Walo will offer benefits such as acquiring a Walo – dale! debit card with a Visa franchise at no cost. In addition, users will be able to spend money unlimitedly paying a small monthly fee, with access to free withdrawals at physical points or more than 3,200 ATMs of the Aval Banks: Banco Bogotá, Banco Occidente, Banco Popular, and Banco Av Villas.
