Brazil’s RecargaPay Raises $70 Million To Expand Payments App

Brazil’s RecargaPay has raised $70 million in a Series C funding round to expand its payments platform for consumers and small businesses. The funding round, led by IDC Ventures and Fuel Venture Capital, brings RecargaPay’s total funding to over $100 million. Other investors include Experian, LUN Partners and ATW, according to a press release.

“Founded in Brazil in 2010, RecargaPay set out to provide a comprehensive and user-friendly financial services ecosystem that would be accessible even to people who do not have bank accounts,” the press release reads. The company’s goal is to “democratize access to digital financial services for millions of new users.” PYMNTS recently noted that more than 45 million adults in Brazil remain unbanked. The firm will also use the funding to further develop Prime+, its subscription program.

RecargaPay began as a way for consumers to add money to their cell phone payment plans, but has since expanded to offer a full suite of financial services. Consumers can send and receive money, apply for and get micro-loans, pay bills and add money to their public transit accounts. They can also add money to their RecargaPay digital wallet.

RecargaPay’s “all-in-one” approach to a payments platform aims to provide financial services to all, and to counter the fragmentation and friction for consumers in Brazil trying to make payments, RecargaPay’s CEO and Founder Rodrigo Teijeiro recently told PYMNTS. “Nobody was addressing this exactly, because it was just very, very bad in the sense of complexity and margin,” he said. “But the demand [was] clearly there — people were searching it on Google. Even today, 10 years in, it’s a significant driver of user acquisition.”

The pandemic has pushed more and more consumers to reduce their cash usage and adopt digital wallets. RecargaPay’s press release notes that its app has become popular with consumers with bank accounts, in addition to unbanked consumers. Its micro-loan program alone has grown over 500 percent in 202