Andrés Vásquez has spent six years helping to turn Nequi into what it is now, the largest digital bank in the country, which is used by one in three Colombians. Today his challenge is enormous, since the Bancolombia Group decided to appoint him CEO of Nequi to lead this transition to a financing company.
EL COLOMBIANO spoke with him during the 56th Banking Convention that takes place in Cartagena.
What does this appointment mean to you personally?
“It is first a pride and an honor. I have been working at Nequi for six years, since it was a project, a dream, an idea, we were just a team of 12 people going to talk with users, to understand how we wanted to transform this business. So, I think it has been a very natural evolution and very good for me personally, it is a challenge of developing a team that can continue to transform the way people relate to silver”.
What does it mean for Nequi to have received authorization from the Financial Superintendent to operate as a Financing Company?
“It is one more step in the evolution of our business model, from the beginning we operated under Bancolombia’s banking license, which has been a lever of all the possibilities up to now, but also that growth those possibilities reach a moment in which that it is important to have a dynamic of innovation, there is a lot of competition in the market and we had to think regarding product development and that our processes and services be given with agility, and becoming a neobank was the next step that allowed us to achieve everything it’s. As a financing company, better said, as a neobank, we can have savings accounts with simplified procedures, traditional savings accounts, loans, independently of Bancolombia, which despite being 100% digital, connect us with the network of banking correspondents”.
Does Nequi plan to start serving micro and small businesses?
“We are very involved in sole proprietorships and natural persons, but without a doubt we are going to have to evolve towards businesses, that will be a challenge that we will have to address at some point.”
¿How many collaborators does the Nequi team have?
“We are 400 people between staff in house and that of some allied companies that accompany us in software development”.
How is Nequi’s growth going?
“Nequi currently has 13.5 million users, and we continue to grow nearly 400,000 every month. But more important than that is that the intensive use that we are having, which is close to 67%, and that is what satisfies us the most, but it is also what generates the greatest challenges for us, because these transactional growths are exponential and we have to be very careful peaks of activity to always work”.
If most of the products do not generate a charge for the customer, where does Nequi earn money?
“We believe that the heart of the service and the basics should be free, for example, to add money to an account, withdraw money from an account, maintain and organize the wallet, which is the closest thing to cash, should be free; but people do pay for some services that they are willing to pay for, such as buying mandatory insurance, purchase, payment, or when they buy a card. We also have some products such as cell phone recharges, for which we reach an agreement with cell phone companies that pay us a commission; we have the concept of payment for use, in which the clients pay for all the services that are in the cupboard”.
Is Nequi already making profits?
“No, so far it is generating a lot of income, we have not yet exceeded the break-even point, we are in that process and I think we are doing very well.”
Now, apart from Bancolombia, do you plan to seek external financing?
“Without a doubt, it is part of the Bancolombia Group’s strategy and its interest to keep Nequi within the Bancolombia company, so at the moment external leverage and obtaining partners is not on the agenda; but I believe that it is within the possibilities for the future”. n
*At the invitation of Asobancaria
