Ualá

Ualá is a personal financial management mobile app developed in Argentina linked to a Mastercard prepaid card that allows users to conduct financial transactions, such as, transferring money and making payments and purchases, both in Argentina and abroad.[1]

Ualá
Original author(s)Pierpaolo Barbieri
Initial release3 October 2017
Operating systemiOS, Android
Licencefreeware
Websitewww.uala.com.ar

Founded by Pierpaolo Barbieri, this neobank was developed and launched in Argentina, where mobile phone penetration is at 92% and banking penetration is at 50%.[2][3] With Ualá, users can manage their money through their cell phones without having a bank account.[4]

As a fintech app, Ualá operates with a Mastercard prepaid card, with no issuing, renewal, maintenance or closing fees.[5] It is sent to the user's home free-of-charge when he or she registers in Ualá and it can be used in participating retail stores and online. Moreover, the user can add money to the card from a bank account or with cash at any Pago Fácil, a money transfer and bill paying service chain owned by Western Union. It is also possible to withdraw money from Banelco's and Red Link's ATMs for free, twice a month, and transfer money free and instantly to other Ualá accounts, in compliance with the security protocols for online commercial transactions.[6][7]

Ualá also allows users to keep track of their expenses and personal finances. It sends automatic push notifications to the user when a transaction is carried out, and it arranges expenses by categories to keep track of them. In the future, the app will allow users to request personal loans and credit cards.[6]

Regarding safety, Ualá's system verifies the user ID with a selfie and a picture of the ID that is issued by the Argentine government.[8] If the card is lost or stolen, users can ‘freeze’ the card from the app to avoid unauthorized transactions and activate it again when the card is recovered.[9]

Ualá is available only in Argentina for Android and iOS devices and it can be downloaded for free on both Google Play and the iOS App Store.[10]

Ualá was launched in Argentina in October 2017. It was founded by Pierpaolo Barbieri and financed by international investors like Soros Fund Management, Jefferies investment bank, General Catalyst Partners (investor in Snapchat, Airbnb and Kayak), Bessemer Venture Partners (investor in LinkedIn, Skype and OLX), Point72 Ventures[11] and Kevin P. Ryan (angel investor and founder of the financial news website Business Insider, Gilt and MongoDB).[12]. They closed their latest round of financing, $150 million from Tencent, at a valuation of around $950 million. [13]

See also

References
  1. "Soros, Cohen Back App to Lure Cash From Argentine Mattresses". Thai Birzargen. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  2. "Fintech start-up Ualá targets Argentina's unbanked with new mobile banking service". Banking Technology. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. "The Mobile Economy. Latin American and the Caribbean 2016" (PDF). GSMA. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  4. "Ualá puts Argentina's unbanked in crosshairs". BNAmericas. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  5. "Soros Fund backs Ualá's mobile banking app". Impact Alpha. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  6. "Soros, Cohen Back App to Lure Cash From Argentine Mattresses". Bloomberg L.P. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  7. "George Soros vuelve a invertir en la Argentina con una app para competirle a los bancos". Infobae. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017. (in Spanish)
  8. "El magnate Soros se suma a la banca móvil en el país". La Nación. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017. (in Spanish)
  9. "Ualá, la aplicación que inventó un argentino para los que no tienen cuenta bancaria". TN.com. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017. (in Spanish)
  10. "Soros vuelve a apostar al mercado local con una aplicación móvil". El Cronista. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017. (in Spanish)
  11. "Soros, Cohen among big name investors betting on Argentine startups". Reuters. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  12. "Ualá Overview". Crunchbase. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  13. "What is Ualá? The fintech that just raised $150m from SoftBank and Tencent". 27 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
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