Ualá 50K

Just over three months ago we launched Ualá. Some weeks ago we celebrated our first 10,000 cards by running 10K — and now we have 50,000 issued cards.

We are so many I can no longer run the distance. And the card requests (as well as their usage) only accelerates. 

In 2015 our dream was simple: a financial revolution in a card and an app — and the first fully free card in Argentina. 

Why? Because in Argentina financial services are a tax on the poor, where most are fully excluded from the system. Because it does not make sense to wait for those who did not fix the problem in decades to do it now. Because if others do it elsewhere, it should also be possible where we come from, since we already have the best human capital. 

Many didn’t believe. Some did not pick up the phone. Others reiterated the mantra that what we wanted to do was not possible. But we pressed on, and every day we are more men and women coming together, from finance as well as technology, to revolutionize the Latin American financial system.

We launched the first days of October and we all stayed up all night approving users. Without our unbelievable team, there would be no Ualá. 

In less than 72 hours, we issued cards in every province of the country. Having no branches makes us more federal as well as more inclusive. 

In less than a month, we reached our target for the whole year. And growth has only accelerated since then. 

We have thousands of users that dropped their banks for Ualá. To bank them means to provide them with the best customer service. 

We have thousands of users that are underage. To bank them means we are here to promote financial education as well as inclusion. 

We have thousands of users that are foreign. To bank them means giving them access to the system. 

Ualá is an inclusive dream. I am touched by the stories we have lived in the last few months, from users being able to pay for Netflix or Spotify for the first time to giving a card to people who had never before been allowed in a bank branch. 

Ualá is a social dream. Our product is already better than when we launched, thanks to you. We fixed direct deposits, moving to a new system that cut bank loading times from days to hours. We added partners to load up cash, adding a live link with Rapipago to our original partner, Pago Fácil. We have improved our personal financial management and integrated card tracking into the app. This is just the beginning. 

Many have asked me who is the ideal Ualá customer is. My answer is always the same: we want all those users that the banks do not — and all the others, too. 

In 2017 we launched. 

In 2018 we want to make your bank redundant. 

We will offer credit and installment payments. We will change how you pay and what you pay from your smartphone, making it more social. We will deepen our learning from expenses, so we can give you advice — and teach you how to save better. And a lot more. The best is yet to come. 

This is what “banking” you means. And we will do it with you. This blog will be a space to share and gather feedback with our users, so we can build this revolution together. 

So reach out, whenever you want, however you want. We are always here. 

#TeVenimosABancar, 

pb