- C6 Bank, a new Brazilian fintech, was officially born this week;
- The company is likely to finish the year with more than 400,000 customers and a greater range of services, from banking to investments and insurance products;
- C6 Bank will also have its own brand of card machines called C6 Pay, focused on entrepreneurs who process up to $1,268 a month.
C6 Bank, a new Brazilian fintech, was officially born this week with 200,000 customers and free-of-charge financial services. Behind the company, are former executives of the major Brazilian investment bank BTG-Pactual, as Marcelo Kalim, controlling shareholder, Leandro Torres and others. With a social capital of $80 million (315 million reais), the partners plan to invest a total of $129 million (500 million reais) in the company by 2019.
C6 Bank isn’t forthcoming with its goals, but, according to the fintech spokesperson Verena Fornetti, the company is likely to finish the year with more than 400,000 customers and a greater range of services, from banking to investments and insurance products.
Current customers came from the beta phase of C6 Bank, which began in May this year with guest clients — people who signed up on the bank’s website or app and were invited to try fintech’s services.
“There are no restrictions [for opening an account with us]. In addition to the common checking account, which gives the option of credit and debit card, the bank also offers a payment type account, where the user has access only to the debit card,” said Fornetti.
In general, C6 Bank offers a maintenance-free checking account, free unlimited transfers, free unlimited withdrawals, payments, free multiple card (debit and credit), salary portability, and deposits by boleto (the most popular voucher payment method in the country).
Customers also have access to a proprietary CDB (Certificate of Deposit) that offers a remuneration starting from 100% of the CDI (Interbank Deposit Certificate, a reference of income from investments) and Taggy (a service for automatic toll payment without charge or monthly fee).
In addition to those typical banking services available by mobile app, C6 Bank offers a reward program for debit and credit card users called “Átomos,” as well as a bank transfer service to any other financial institution via SMS.
In Átomos’ store, which will be available later this quarter in the C6 Bank application, airline tickets may be issued from several companies or transfer points to Multiplus, Tudo Azul, Smiles, and TAP Miles & Go. Customers will also be able to redeem their points for services and products from brands such as Netflix, Uber, Magazine Luiza, and Fasano Gourmet. Customers of the C6 Carbon card, corresponding to Mastercard Black, have already scored in the program since account opening (2.5 carbon points for every 1 real spent).
In the coming months, users of the annuity-free C6 card will also be able to participate in the Átomos program. In this case, the accumulation of points will not only happen on credit card purchases but also on debit card and boleto payments. The amount of points accumulated will vary according to the hired plan, which can be free or can have a monthly cost between 0.40 and 10 or 20 reais.
Moreover, C6 Bank will have its own branded machine, the C6 Pay. “The equipment has no rent or purchase fee for MEIs (Individual Microentrepreneurs, entrepreneurs who have a milder tax regime in Brazil), individuals and companies with revenue on the machine from $1,268 (5,000 reais) per month,” explained Fornetti.
Investments and expansion
For now, C6 Bank relies only on equity, but does not rule out participation in foreign investment rounds. ” Most likely we will have other investments in the future, although there are no investment rounds planned at the moment,” said Fornetti.
The C6 began its testing phase in May of this year with 500 employees and is expected to close in 2019 with around 700 employees.
