Following up on its strategy to expand its ecosystem of products and services, Rappi on Friday announced the launch of an insurance product line through RappiBank, its financial services arm. Rappi’s digital bank will offer life, pet, electronic, and card insurance in Brazil starting in August. Users will be able to perform simulations and purchase insurance directly on the app.
The insurance line is the third product launched by RappiBank, which started operating earlier this year with the proposal of becoming a digital bank with a complete portfolio for the final consumer and for Rappi‘s partners. On RappiBank’s radar are also the launch of a receivables anticipation service for Rappi’s partner companies, possibly later this year, and the launch of a digital account in 2022.
The new products will be offered through a partnership with startup W2.digital, which develops insurance and financial products for various digital channels, be they apps, websites or platforms.
“We’ve always had insurance on our radar because it’s an important part of the portfolio in a country like Brazil where insurance still doesn’t have significant market permeability. But our differential is that we develop products from feedback from our users. So for example, we realized that the pet line within Rappi grew more than 50% and we decided to add pet insurance. More than following a trend, we customize the product for our ecosystem,” João Paulo Félix, RappiBank’s president in Brazil, told LABS in an interview.
According to Félix, the insurance line is more of a retention channel than a new customer acquisition channel. Unlike with the credit card, which brings in many new users. “With the insurance line, our major goal is to elevate our user experience.”
The expansion of RappiBank’s portfolio is in line with Rappi‘s strategy to consolidate itself as a super app. Félix said RappiBank itself was designed to do just that. The company does not disclose absolute numbers about its operation, such as user base or the number of cards issued so far, but according to Félix, the growth targets for the financial services vertical are aggressive. “We are not competing with other banks or fintechs, we are Rappi’s bank for Rappi’s user.”
Financial products and services play a key role in building a super app. They improve the ecosystem, add value to the user experience, increase recurrence and the average ticket.
João Paulo Félix, RappiBank’s president in Brazil
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Today, in addition to insurance, fintech also offers a line of credit targeted at all types of Rappi partner merchants, including restaurants, pharmacies, stores, and supermarkets. The loans range from BRL 10,000 to BRL 500,000, with interest rates starting at 1.7% per month and terms of up to 24 months. The loan application is 100% digital.
In June, RappiBank launched its cashback credit card. There are the RappiCard Visa Gold versions, with no annual fee, which offers 3% cashback on purchases within Rappi and 1% on other purchases, and RappiCard Prime Visa Infinite, which gives 5% cashback on Rappi and 2% on other purchases with Prime.
