- The authorization allows the fintech to operate as a payment institution as e-currency issuer and postpaid payment instrument issuer;
- This means that Asaas will be able to provide bank account numbers connected to the Brazilian Payment System for its more than 86 thousand active accounts; in addition to the Brazilian instant payment system, PIX;
- The fintech’s next step is to obtain an additional license as a Direct Credit Society to be able to provide credit to individual entrepreneurs.
The Brazilian fintech Asaas announced that it has the green light from the country’s central bank to operate as a payment institution, as e-currency issuer and postpaid payment instrument issuer. Asaas offers a solution for managing collections, payments and advances focused on micro and small entrepreneurs.
With the license, the company will be able to provide bank account numbers connected to the Brazilian Payments System (SPB, in the Portuguese acronym) for over 86 thousand active accounts it serves, in addition to direct access to all types of transactions in the Instant Payments System, PIX.
Asaas asked Central Bank for the license two and a half years ago, when the fintech had reached over BRL 500 million in payment transactions a year.
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“Being an institution approved by the Central Bank has always been a goal of the company, especially with the focus of bringing more security to our customers and the possibility of acting independently from other institutions, in addition to the availability of more financial products and services through our platform,” says Thaís Bastian Consiglio, legal and regulatory director at Asaas. Consiglio led the authorization process together with the company’s CEO, Piero Contezini.
The movement is not exclusive to Asaas. Brazilian fintechs have increasingly sought to fit into specific segments regulated by the central bank to increase the offer of products and services.
With the licenses from the regulatory agency, these companies are also able to improve processes, increase their area of operation and not depend on third parties, making the process more efficient in terms of costs. In addition, being under the agency’s control allows the company to increase its customer base.
The fintech‘s next step, which has transacted over BRL 6 billion so far, is to obtain an additional license as a Direct Credit Society (SCD, in the Portuguese acronym), in order to provide credit to individual entrepreneurs.
Since its launch, in 2013, the startup has already raised over BRL 45 million in investments. In October, Asaas raised a BRL 37 million Series B round from the investment arm of Banco Bradesco, InovaBRA.
