- The number of fintechs authorized to operate went from 30 to 53 in just nine months;
- Of them, 44 operate as a Direct Credit Society and 9 as a Personal Loan Society;
- Fintechs are also growing with PIX and now account for more than 30% of payments and receipts made via PIX.
The number of fintechs authorized to operate by the Brazilian Central Bank increased 76% in nine months, from 30 to 53 fintechs, according to data presented by Central Bank’s president Roberto Campos Neto at an event organized by the Brazilian Association of Fintechs. Of them, 44 operate as Direct Credit Society and 9 as Personal Loan Society.
The difference between the licenses is that a direct credit company can only make loans with its own capital, without raising funds from the public.
A personal loan company, on the other hand, can perform peer-to-peer lending; these fintechs make financial intermediation, for which they can charge a fee; in addition, they can raise funds from the public.
READ ALSO: Mercado Libre includes payments via PIX in its app and platform
Campos Neto said that the rise of fintechs is beneficial for the financial system innovation and for the market, to make the prices and fees more competitive.
“Fintechs are able to reach more people and bring the prices of financial services down. When we encourage the expansion of fintechs in the supply of credit, we see the benefit for the financial system’s competitiveness,” he said.
READ ALSO: XP closes BRL 1.2 billion funds to finance startups and unlisted companies in Brazil
Campos Neto also commented that he believes in the great potential of fintechs focused on agribusiness (agritechs).
Fintechs and PIX
Fintechs have also achieved relevance with the PIX. According to data from the Central Bank, the largest fintechs already account for 34% of payments and 38% of receipts made via PIX. Launched last November, the PIX has already reached 1.05 billion transactions and BRL 787 billion transacted.
