60: Modern Banking for the Unbanked in Latin America

Guest Bio
Marcelo Rojas Decut is the Co-Founder & CEO of eCLUB a modern bank for the unbanked in Latin America. 

Marcelo has a professional career with over 18 years of senior experience in the financial sector - in retail and corporate banking - as a board member and commercial director in large global banks such as BBVA and Citi Bank focusing on LatAm, particularly Argentina, Paraguay & Uruguay. 

He is also an entrepreneur at heart and 10 years ago ventured into new areas including Agro business and the use of innovative technologies to improve the yield and performance of its investments.

Since 2017 he is a member of the executive board of CREA - the regional Consortium of Agricultural Innovation. Marcelo is a chartered accountant, with an Executive Post-graduate from the University of Navarra (IESE), a post-graduate degree in Applied Business Management at the California State University, as well as a Masters in Strategic Management from the Universidad de Misiones (UNAM)

eCLUB

eCLUB is a FinTech company focused on democratizing impact by providing access to financial services in Latin America. eCLUB’s mission is to solve the financial inclusion problem in Latin America. The social mission is to empower the 270 million unbanked people to help unlock Latin America ́s growth potential by giving them access to financial services for the first time. The vision is to become the regional leader. The first target country is Paraguay, given the current opportunities and partnerships available for the faster and more successful delivery of the initial growth plans and impact.

Summary
How do you help people improve their lives? Research shows that Impact Economics is key, which is driven by financial inclusion and empowerment, since the opportunities for people increase exponentially as their income and financial situation improves. But for this, people first need to be able to access what only a small percentage of the population can - equality so people have the same available to them, but this begins with access.  
During this insightful conversation you will have a window open for you … to show you the current situation in Latin America, what needs to be done, what can be done, and who is doing it, and the immense opportunity for Impact Investing.

Key Points

• In the US almost 60% of transactions are done digitally, in Latin America almost 75% of transactions are done in cash.
• The unbanked are living in an unequal society where people who have the least access to cash have to pay a higher price for financial services.
• We can help to close the huge gap between those who have access to financial services and those who haven't.
• eCLUB’s mission is to solve the financial inclusion problem in Latin America. The main focus is to help people have a better life. That is the end goal.
• Consumers have very few alternatives, most of the banking sector is concentrated in very few banks. And you can see the same story in every country. The sector is dominated by 5 or 6 banks that concentrate 80% of deposits and 80% of the loans. 
• Due to the lack of competition in the sector, the people have to pay some of the highest interest rates in the world, and some of the highest fees in the world. Yes, because they have no alternative. 
• The worst is that this way of doing banking has created a big problem, where almost 50% of the middle class and lower-middle-class people don't have access to an account, over 70% of the people don't have access to credit.
• Banking the unbanked means that simplicity is key in the user experience.
• “We are not just providing financial services, we are also giving the unbanked tools to improve their financial knowledge to re functionalities that allow people to track their expenses, knowing what they are spending the money.”
• In Latin America, there is a high level of entrepreneurship. 
• For small businesses the main barrier to growth is a lack of access to finance and credit. This sector creates 70% of employment in the whole of Latin America.
• eCLUB’s first market is Paraguay and to reach 1 million people in the next 4 years. They aim to launch in Brazil next!

Time Stamp

2.30 Introduction - Marcelo Rojas Decut, CEO of eCLUB. Asunción, Paraguay

6:15 What is eCLUB

9:50 Living in a cash-based economy without credit history

14:13 Why Marcelo and his team are the right people

16:50 Banking sector in South America is concentrated in very few banks

21:37 What is the eCLUB user experience

26:45 How they made it work with compliance and regulations

30:20 Dealing with low-risk customers

32:08 How to make eCLUB financially sustainable

35::45 Measuring impact on society

40:36 Positive cycle of helping small businesses get credit

42:38 Paraguay, Brazil and other fintechs

46:00 Why Warren Buffet is investing in Latin America

48:18 Biggest challenge for Marcelo and the team

52:20 What makes an impact leader?

Useful link:

Marcelo Rojas Decut in Linkedin 

eClub - https://eclub.com.py/

Reuters article: “Warren Buffett-backed Nubank to seek IPO valuation of over $55 bln”
Report: Fintech for Financial Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean - The Case of Paraguay

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