Nicolás Villa, CEO de Platam
Although there are solutions today that allow access to a loan in minutes, for a small business the path is not so simple. The procedures take weeks, the requirements accumulate and, frequently, the money arrives when the urgency has passed or the business opportunity has disappeared. This is where embedded financing comes in as a bet for micro-enterprises that do not have access to traditional banking.
According to studies by BBVA Research, only 16 out of every 100 micro-enterprises have access to formal credit. Most of them are excluded from mechanisms that seem designed for another era.
Faced with this scenario, embedded financing has arrived, which incorporates credit options directly into everyday business transactions. But what does it take to implement it?
“The most important condition is not technological, but operational,” explained Nicolás Villa, CEO of Platam, in an interview with Contxto. “There must be a recurrent and traceable transactional flow between companies. We don’t need a company to be completely digital, but for its business relationship to be able to be measured and understood in real time.”
This approach allows working with both digital networks and traditional channels. The system makes it possible to integrate financing in advanced platforms, but also in distributors or cooperatives, where most MSMEs still operate.
Credit without unnecessary red tape
A crucial challenge is to balance credit accessibility with financial responsibility. Villa clarifies the fintech’s approach: “True inclusion is not about lending more, but about lending better.”
Their model is based on a dynamic evaluation, as he says that they analyze real behavior within the chain: purchase frequency, payment punctuality, sales seasonality. “This allows us to adjust quotas in real time and avoid over-indebtedness”.
The key, according to Villa, lies in the destination of the financing: “When integrated into the business flow, the credit is used for productive working capital, which strengthens cash flow. Sustainability comes from each loan driving a transaction that generates value, not unproductive debt.”
“In the ecosystems where we operate, companies that offer integrated financing achieve increases of up to 2.5x in sales and a 50% decrease in customer churn,” Villa points out.
So far, the company says that it has deployed more than US$20 million in loans, with more than 1,200 companies benefiting and an overdue portfolio of less than 2.5%.
Plans to expand the model
To scale this model in Latin America, partnerships are essential. Villa sees a complementary scenario: “Integrated financing is not a war between fintechs and banks, but a synergy between technology and capital”.
“Fintechs have the ability to originate and operate with efficiency and data, while banks bring depth of funding and systemic risk management.”
For a region where small and medium-sized enterprises account for more than 90% of the productive fabric, this approach could make the difference between stagnation and growth. Credit is no longer an obstacle for many companies, and now, with embedded financing, it becomes an alternative to boost their business models.
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