If here in Brazil the consortium has been, for decades, a widely used alternative to invest money and make a “nest egg” to buy some desired good, in another large international market (in this case, the United States) it is practically non-existent. However, three Brazilians are willing to change this reality. It is in this scenario that Savings.Club appears, with the aim of democratizing access to goods abroad through a model inspired by the consortium, adapted to the American regulatory and financial reality.
Led by Brazilians JP Galvão, Adriano Marques and Fernando Lamounier, the fintech created a proprietary (and patented) solution to launch a consortium product in Yankee lands and, since then, has bet on an audience already familiar with the concept to form its initial customer base. Focusing first on the Brazilian and Latin American public, the company has already accumulated more than R$25 million in contracts.
According to CEO JP Galvão, the amount may not seem that high, but it served to validate the operation, which has not yet completed a year. “Currently, we are already moving more than R$3 million in new contracts per month, with more than 100 active customers and 41 active resellers”, he explains. To date, four contemplations have already been carried out.
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Today, Savings.Club operates only in the automotive segment, with credit groups between US$20,000 and US$40,000. The next front to be attacked is commercial properties, with credits starting at US$200,000. “When we get into real estate, it goes up a significant scale, and the difference in value in relation to financing is even greater”, says Adriano.
In addition to the ticket increase, the new license will allow operations throughout the United States, without state restrictions on automotive products – currently, the company only operates in Texas, Florida, Massachusetts and Connecticut. With the new product, Savings.Club expects to aggressively increase contract volume, reaching the US$1 billion mark in about a year.
To reach the projection of almost R$1 billion, the company relies on a combination of expansion into real estate, entry into new states and the growth of the dealer network. “We are not throwing numbers into the air. These are absolutely doable numbers and are part of our pipeline”, says JP.
What if large players in the financial market, American banks, automakers with financial arms or Brazilian fintechs advancing in the USA want to enter this market? The company is prepared. In addition to three pending patents that protect the technological model, Galvão confirms that conversations are underway.
“What I can say is that these conversations exist. Not only with administrators, but also with banks. What we believe is that we are creating business infrastructure for the USA, and it is important that all these players have access to this”, highlights JP.
Solving a problem
The idea for Savings.Club came from an observation by JP Galvão, who already lived in the United States and was a partner in a luxury car subscription company in three states. When American interest rates soared, he saw the impact on customers and dealers up close.
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“If the top of the financial activity value chain was lost like that, what was happening to the people at the bottom?”, recalls JP. “Car financing credits here had pre-pandemic rejection rates of 4% to 6%. Today, it’s hitting 25%. When I saw this happen, I thought: I’m going to set up a consortium business here in the United States.”
To understand the product from the inside and think about how to adapt it to the North American market, Galvão counted on an expert on the subject: Luiz Otávio Matias, former vice-president of Itaú and founder of Itaú Consórcio.
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