Airfox Launches Mobile App in Brazil, Giving Unbanked Citizens Access to Previously Inaccessible Financial Services
Airfox’s free Android app provides millions of unbanked and underbanked Brazilians with access to microloans, mobile payments, and more.
BOSTON & SAO PAULO — Feb. 26, 2018 — Airfox, a mobile financial services company, today launched its free Android app in Brazil, giving millions of people unprecedented access to much-needed financing solutions.
More than 44 percent of Brazil’s population is unbanked, another 30–44 percent lack sufficient access to mainstream financial services, and those with credit cards face interest rates upwards of 200 percent (sources: World Bank, Bloomberg). This financial situation makes it difficult for the majority of Brazilians to rise into the middle class.
Starting today, the millions of people in Brazil with smartphones can skip the bank and instead use the Airfox app to make purchases and apply for and receive microloans. Setting up an Airfox account takes just a few minutes and most users receive a decision on their loan application within days. Brazilians can easily deposit cash into the Airfox app via Boleto Bancário at more than 40,000 locations countrywide. Later this year, Airfox will roll out additional features enabling users to recharge their public transit cards within the Airfox app, pay utility bills, and more. Thanks to a partnership between Airfox and Pareteum (NYSE American: TEUM), MVNOs and MVNEs in Pareteum’s network are now able to provide Airfox’s services to hundreds of thousands of subscribers in Brazil.
Victor Santos, co-founder and CEO of Airfox, said: “Traditional banking in Brazil is expensive, elitist, and bureaucratic. The Airfox app grants Brazilians an enormous amount of economic mobility and added control over their finances. As a Brazilian immigrant and the son of entrepreneurs, I know firsthand the impact a loan can have; even just $50 USD could enable someone to make improvements to their home, cover a medical emergency, or start their own business. We are excited to launch the Airfox app in Brazil with the goal of improving the lives of millions of individuals.”
Because Airfox’s platform is built on the blockchain, the company is able to offer affordable rates, reduced transfer fees, and transparent loan terms. In order to apply for a microloan, users simply opt-in to share their mobile profile with Airfox and start building a credit score through daily smartphone usage. It’s easy for borrowers to repay Airfox loans as well; repayments can be made using cash or money transfer. Airfox app users are segmented into low risk or high risk groups, allowing peer-to-peer lenders to sponsor AirTokens through an Ethereum smart-contract in Airfox’s lending platform.
About Airfox
Airfox is on a mission to provide the more than two billion unbanked people in emerging markets with mobile access to financial services. The Airfox app, available on Android, eliminates the need for traditional financial institutions and enables unbanked users without credit to access capital and loans via their smartphones. With the app, users can make purchases and apply for and receive microloans. The Airfox lending platform matches lenders around the world to borrowers in developing countries using AirTokens (AIR), an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum blockchain. Airfox has offices in Boston, São Paulo, and San Francisco. To learn more about the future of banking, visit www.airfox.io.
