Stori, the Mexican fintech company specializing in accelerating credit to individuals through innovation in financial products and services, arrives in Colombia after reaching 3.3 million clients in four years in its country.
It was valued at more than US$1 billion in mid-2022 and recognized as the first Mexican unicorn, co-founded by Marlene Garayzar, Chief Governance Officer, who spoke with Portafolio.
(Read: Inflation in Argentina rose slightly to 4.2% in August)
What is Stori?
We were a startup founded in 2018 and we have achieved milestones such as the valuation of a unicorn in mid-2022 and we reached 3.3 million clients. We have a Sofipo license, similar to what a financing company is in Colombia. We collect and give credit. We give returns to all savers, we seek financial inclusion and we do not want to leave anyone out. We give them the first loan and help to grow with financial education to 80% of our clients.
The product we provide is countercyclical, as it allows them to buy supplies for the home, for food, and also for micro-businesses. We talk to clients and look at them a lot with technological tools. We are the access they lacked and could only have in an informal, unregulated way. We are regulated.
How does the portfolio behave?
The default rate is lower than that of banks in the same segment. This is possible because we use behavioral economics and data analysis to see how people pay, where they pay, and when they pay to prevent them from falling into default. The segment is around 9.5% and we are at 7.9% and we are making efforts to reduce that figure. We are below the average for the sector and that reflects what we know how to do and our value proposition. In Mexico, default is measured from 60 days.
How much credit have they placed?
We have placed 2,800,000 credits that are active.
What will the operation be like in Colombia?
In Colombia, the credit will initially be from $200,000 to around US$1,000 (about $4.5 million). We want 500,000 downloads to apply for the card offer.
What comes after that?
We will then look into applying for a finance company license. We also want to give them tools for saving with a purpose.
How are you doing on interest rates?
We are going to be competitive with the goal of seeking more. In terms of savings, we pay 15% EA in Mexico and the idea is to reward the credit user with a rate. We want people to remember when they need to pay with reminders and to pay ahead of time and to use the card a lot. The plastic card is blue at the moment but later it will be green.
In the fintech world there are not many female founders of unicorns…
In Mexico it is the same, there are few women and that makes me committed and visible to my female colleagues. It is a sector where there are many men. There are few graduates in Stem careers (related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and that makes it difficult for there to be women in this business of technology, engineering and development.
My data directors are women, but it took us a while to find them. We need to be more visible.
HOLMAN RODRIGUEZ MARTINEZ
Portfolio
