Did you know that +25M of mobility gig workers do not have access to credit in Latam? We are enabling the traditional financial system to reach a hugely in-need underserved population through a unique and proprietary driving credit score that replaces outdated inefficient risk assessment mechanisms.

We are the company behind the tech: we have a mobile app with a fiat wallet, a 100% automatic back-office platform and a behavioral scoring engine that can effectively capture the risk of the customer segment we are trying to serve.

In emerging markets, inflation forces users to find alternative ways of storing value. Argentina is one of the Latin American countries hit hardest by ever-increasing inflation. With an average annual inflation rate of 24% over the past 20 years in Argentina, the depreciation of the peso ranks as the most relevant issue for Argentines.

To protect themselves from devaluation, people typically preserve their wealth by exchanging the Argentine peso for the US dollar. This process usually involves opening foreign bank accounts and holding onto the physical bills at home. This leaves them with no safe way to store or use their money.

We want to enhance our value proposal, adding a USDC alternative account to our existing fiat wallet.

After the implementation of the blockchain-based wallet, the user will be able to receive a Stellar address automatically, right after his KYC has been accepted. If they want to buy (or sell) USDC, they will get the transaction quote automatically in real time. We will collect the corresponding amount from the user’s national currency virtual account and will send the corresponding USDC balance to their Stellar address in a few seconds.

This new feature will provide our users a new saving strategy in countries where unstable economies push them to escape from their own currency because of its constant devaluation. This happens in Argentina, where we are already operating, and other Latin American countries.

We have participated of the Stellar Community Bootcamp where we had the chance to design, prototype and validate our ideas with real users.

During the interviews, 8 real users of our wallet were invited to complete 2 different processes. First, the purchase of USDC using available funds in their fiat wallet. Second, to perform a cashout of USDC to a different account. Our users are not familiar with crypto so we did some research on that as well.

From all the users interviewed, only 2 mentioned that are able to save, but 7 said they would do it through our wallet… one of them wanted to do it NOW!

A few learnings in the process: wording is important… withdraw and transfer may not be understood the same way; security during cashout… some users mentioned they wanted to schedule an “automatic” purchase once they collected their wages in the wallet; and some minor details but really useful to learn!

uils Bootcamp workspace - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1C6S5GRQg7Hv76Bi3An5WSomV5fln9i6v

Taking in consideration we do not have blockchain capabilities in-company and that we are not savvy in this field, we partnered with Settle to develop this project.

What's the project's roadmap?

- Discovery & Management (Kick off, Business Analysis, Planning and Final Roadmap development)

- Initial Setup (DB configuration, implementation & project setup)

- Stellar Blockchain Development (Wallet creation, New Account for each user, Onramps/Offramps transactions, Withdrawals, Balance checking, Webhooks notifications)

- Quality Assurance (Features testing, Launch regression, Bug fixing)

- Security Audit (Penetration testing, Security issues fixes)

The wallet will be implemented using Vibrant’s SDK. By integrating with different partners such as Settle and Circle, Vibrant enables its users to easily access on/off ramps, allowing their value to move effortlessly between regular fiat and digital currencies.

We are not looking to become a crypto startup. Our main goal is to promote the financial inclusion of millions of people in emerging markets and harnessing the power of blockchain is critical during this process.

We have participated in the Techstars Payments acceleration program, powered by Stellar Development Foundation and Moneygram where we had the opportunity of discussing this project and receiving feedback from our mentors (Anke Liu, Tom Curran-Levett, Daniel Casanas).

This submission is the initial stage of a long-term blockchain project that starts with the wallet and continues with smart contracts and finally ends with the migration of our current lending infrastructure to the blockchain.

After implementing the wallet, we will move on with Soroban that will allow us to migrate current features into the blockchain. If a user pays on time, they get a cashback over the interest rate. If someone invites a new user (our solution is invite-only), they will get a cash reward. These features are examples of functionalities that are currently implemented in our fiat wallet and that we are looking to migrate to the blockchain using Soroban.

What are the advantages of this project?

There are several types of exchange rates in Argentina. Thanks to the features to be implemented, our users will be able to access the cheaper exchange rate instantly.

Considering one of our customer personas are immigrant and they frequently sent money back home, this project will allow to drastically reduce transfers’ commissions.

Finally, as mentioned before, implementing the wallet will be the basis to develop new features using smart contracts in the next stage of our project.

What’s our traction?

Our ecosystem has been built to be offered through a B2B model for lenders and financial institutions. Once the scoring engine was built, we needed to prove its efficiency. We validated the tech through a B2C solution during a whole year, resulting in the following:

We launched in January 2022 and have acquired 275 users through a stealth-mode referral program.

Our platform has issued 1,359 loans with an average frequency of 3.7 loans per active user per month.

We have achieved an active user's rate of 37.7%, indicating strong user engagement.

Our LTV is $85.21 USD ($22 RPU, 4.66 months lifetime and 17% monthly churn) and our CAC of $2.60.

We have maintained a monthly retention rate greater than 73%, indicating strong user loyalty.

Our RPU has increased by an average of 51% MoM in 2022, indicating rapid revenue growth.

We have lent a total of $71.8k USD with a 6.19% default rate (write off at +90 days of nonpayment).

Our Net Promoter Score (NPS) is 91, indicating a high level of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

What is our Revenue Model?

Uils makes money through a B2B model. Through our technology, any financial company is able to offer:

- Micro Loans: small loans at a 0% interest rate offered through a weekly subscription.

- Consumer Loans: bigger loans in weekly installments in accessible rates through the traditional interest rate model.

- Rent-to-own Car Loans: loans for drivers to obtain their own vehicles paying the same amount as rental rates.

In order to provide these loans through our technology, lenders pay a setup fee, monthly software license fee, loan origination and collections fee for the use of our loan infrastructure and scoring engine, and a monthly active user fee for the use of the wallet.

To start with our project, we implemented the creation of a Stellar Address. With the help of Settle Network we adapted the onboarding and KYC of our wallet app to be able to creat the crypto wallet for all of our users. Our solution is now working on the test net for the crypto wallet and staging environment for the fiat wallet.

How can a reviewer check you completed your first deliverable?

The reviewer will be able to enter to the website of Stellar Expert and check that the Stellar Address was created.

Link to demo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_f5IiKVjQVmYk6OF8nicpsXUCrJ2sQnQ/view?usp=drive_link

Link to presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11rRZExJPLMNAuOaj3Tnk1p2oksdDlp1K/view?usp=drive_link

Stellar Address in Stellar.expert: https://stellar.expert/explorer/testnet/account/GDKZE7YHJYQLHHWBQ3I5QGIW3MPIMVRWGUUDSICNXPMHV7YVOLZQDC47

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