Real estate credit for women, informals and young people is a startup bet

This month, Chilean real estate financing startup Creditú arrives in Brazil. Founded in 2017, fintech also operates in Peru and intends to expand operations to Mexico.

The company begins operating in the country in a challenging scenario, a result of the combination of high inflation and the basic interest rate (currently at 7.75% per year), after reaching the lowest level in history, 2%, during 2020 — a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The startup’s strategy, according to Chile’s chief executive, Ignacio Alamos, is to expand real estate credit to women, young people and informal people.

These are groups that usually find it more difficult to access mortgages because they are not able to secure a job or do not have as much money saved, says Alamos.

The high connectivity and market volume in Brazil are business opportunities, according to the businessman. Following the model of fintechs already known by Brazilians, it promises less bureaucracy and faster processes, in addition to lower entry fees.

The company is in the expansion phase, and the arrival in Brazil was possible after an investment of R$ 100 million by the AVLA Group, of which it is a partner.

“The market today is dominated by traditional banks: Itaú, Bradesco, Caixa, Banco do Brasil and Santander. And it is almost the same product in the end, with specific variations from bank to bank. They finance up to 80% of the value of real estate for the same customers: with formal income, good scores, and so on”, says the president of the group in Brazil, Felippe Astrachan.

The bet is to invest in other criteria to find good payers. “There is a world of good customers capable of demonstrating that they have an income and that they are currently underserved”, says Astrachan. Encompassing these new customers does not translate, according to him, into more risk. “We will choose well. It doesn’t mean that I will approve anyone, obviously. We will do this in a sustainable way.”