Brazil-based digital wallet PicPay launched its first insurance this week, customizable protection that protects users from non-authorized PIX transactions (Brazil‘s instant payments system), transfers, purchases via cards registered in the digital wallet, and even cases of account invasion and personal data theft. The product adds to the shelf of the app’s financial marketplace — which already offers cards, personal credit, and a p2p lending club through which users can lend money to each other.
The new product is also another step in PicPay’s long-term plan of being Latin America‘s first super app — a goal that PicPay shares with competitors in the same segment, such as the Brazilian neobank Inter, and other sectors, such as the Brazilian retailer Magalu and the Colombian unicorn Rappi.
READ ALSO: Brazilian retail behemoth Magalu launches its own ‘social network’
The first product of what PicPay calls an insurance hub was created in partnership with Kovr, an insurance company that makes customized protection solutions for partners. In addition to PIX transactions, the insurance also covers other types of payments, such as transfers, top-ups, and withdrawals under coercion or after cell phone robbery – everything is customizable up to a limit of BRL 5,000. At a cost that can vary between BRL 4.90 and BRL 14.90.
According to PicPay, the insurance is also the only one in Brazil that offers protection against fraud and account invasion caused by clicking on suspicious messages and links, and also the first one to monitor attacks and fraud in the digital environment for 24 hours.
PicPay’s more than 60 million users can also purchase insurance products from other institutions through the app. Offering more services is a crucial strategy to retain more customers. In October, when PicPay had just over 55 million users, 18 million had balances in their wallets; that is, they actually used the app on a daily basis.
So far, PicPay says it has issued over 12.5 million PicPay Cards and granted BRL 1 billion in loans through its financial marketplace. In December, the number of partners in the strategy — BV, Creditas, Digio, and Empréstimo Sim — as a result of the integration of Guiabolso‘s services, the personal finance management app that was acquired by PicPay at the end of July.
