Ualá’s newest feature lets users soft-land into credit

Contxto – Yesterday (22) fintech Ualá announced the release of a new feature. Through its “Cuotificación” service, app users in Argentina can break purchases into one, three, or five payment installments.

This perk will apply for goods and services worth more than ARS$100 (~US$1) and for up to ARS$5,000 (~US$72) made within the last six months.

At the moment this feature is only available to a select number of users. However, it will steadily expand and become available to people who interact with the app and complete transactions using Ualá’s pre-paid card.

Why it’s a big deal: This is a subtle but clear step by the Argentine startup to expand further into lending-related products and services.

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Ualá and lending

“Cuotificación” (roughly translated to “installmentization”) works much like a microloan. Take an everyday Ualá user, they eat at a restaurant and the check comes out to US$60. Instead of charging the entire amount against their account, they can pay in smaller installments.

It’s certainly a way of hand-holding users into lending services. Not to mention adding a much-needed layer of transparency as all information is available on the app. That way, users can keep tabs on their tabs.

All of these issues were on Ualá’s mind as it built this feature.

“Knowing that barely 7 percent of Argentines have ever requested a loan from a financial institution and that only 24 percent have a credit card drove us to develop products that favor of financial inclusion,” reflected Ualá’s Risk Manager, Joaquín Diz.

“More and more people choose to trust us and that pushes us to continue innovating at a massive scale and focusing on transparency.”

Related articles: Tech and startups from Argentina!

-ML