Tribal Expands Financing, Payment Services to SMBs in 3 More LatAm Markets

Mexico City - Nov. 25, 2021 — B2B payments and financing company Tribal Credit announced today its expansion plans in Latin America, with operations starting  in Colombia, Peru and Chile next month.

The expansion comes at a moment of major development and momentum for Tribal Credit, which has seen more than 50x growth in LatAm since early 2021, serving many of the fastest growing small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Mexico.

“In Latin America, we see issues of access to affordable credit, global payments and remittances for businesses in many countries, where it’s still difficult to obtain savings accounts and debit cards. We decided to enter these markets to offer a comprehensive payment solution that helps boost the growth of these companies in a digital, fast, and secure way,” said Sonia Michaca, Tribal Regional Manager for Latin America.

Sixty-two million SMBs are transacting globally every year, with the LatAm region representing a $175 billion market opportunity led by Mexico—Tribal Credit’s biggest market.

San Francisco-based Tribal Credit closed a combined Series A and debt round of $34.3 million last April, which fueled their expansion into Mexico. The investment was led by QED Investors and Partners for Growth (PFG). Existing seed investors BECO Capital, Global Ventures, OTG Ventures and Endure Capital also took part in the round.

Using a proprietary, AI-driven approval process, Tribal provides a suite of financial services to help SMBs in Latin America pay expenses and optimize their financial management, including multi-currency corporate VISA cards with spend controls, credit lines for on-card purchases, and a payroll service for employees and contractors.

A 2020 KPMG study found 80% of large companies worldwide increasing their digitization exponentially as face-to-face operations dwindled in the aftermath of Covid-19. Accordingly, Latin American companies have invested about 45% in Information Technology and 38% in the acquisition of cloud storage.  Predictions for 2023 show that 75% of organizations will undergo digital transformation, up by 27% from 2020. 

Tribal Credit is currently building a local team in Colombia and will continue to seek more talent in Chile and Peru during the first quarter of 2022. The company already has top customers, including Grupo Anderson, Ben & Frank, Mora Mora, Cerveza Rrëy, SkyAlert, Chop Chop Bikes and Wax Revolution in Mexico; Mi Águila, Frubana and TUL in Colombiaand Crehana in Peru.

Tribal Credit beta launched in December 2019 offering corporate cards and a spend management platform for startups and SMBs in emerging markets. With the increased demand for more efficient online B2B banking experiences, especially at the onset of the pandemic, they expanded their payments and financing products to include Tribal Pay, helping customers settle non-card purchases and benefit from extended payment terms.

With expertise honed at leading tech companies and financial institutions, Tribal Credit’s founding team of serial entrepreneurs, data scientists, and financial execs have built and scaled startups in both emerging markets and the U.S. To spearhead its growth as it scales across markets, the company attracted a global management team of former leaders from HSBC, Visa, Experian, Mercado Libre, American Express, Nubank, Marqeta, Didi Pay, among other leading startups and top financial institutions.

About Tribal Credit

Tribal Credit is a financing and payments company built for emerging-market SMBs looking for a better way to pay and finance business expenses and increase their financial efficiency. The US-based startup provides modern payment methods like multi-currency physical and ​virtual business Visa cards​, local and international wires, short-term financing, and a powerful ​spend management platform​ to track and control expenses—all in one seamless interface. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, data scientists, and financial execs, Tribal Credit is on a mission to empower emerging-market SMBs to grow and compete in a global economy. Tribal Credit is backed by QED Investors, BECO Capital, Global Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, Endure Capital, 500 Startups, Endeavor Catalyst, and OTG Ventures. The company is also part of the Visa Fintech Fast Track program among an elite group of companies. Learn more at www.tribal.credit.