Felix’s founders, Manuel Godoy and Bernardo Garcia, know the frustrations of sending cross-border payments first-hand. There were $148 billion worth of remittances sent from the US to Latin America last year alone, and 70% of that was paid in cash via money transfer service companies, such as Western Union and others.
Now Felix, the US-based startup, is helping millions of Latin Americans send money to Central and South America in a faster, more secure, and convenient way directly through WhatsApp.
Felix wanted to provide a better alternative to the archaic payments infrastructure in the US and they needed a forward-thinking payments partner to help them. “We want to become the number one financial platform for Latinos in the US sending money back home. So we needed a partner that really understood our business,” says Manuel Godoy, CEO and Co-founder of Felix.
While Felix was initially focused on finding the right tech solution that met their cost requirements, Manuel reflects on how their partnership with Checkout.com delivered added value:
Remittance payments are vital for local economies, and the transaction volume is only growing. But the current infrastructure makes it painful and expensive for users to send money back home.
As the only chat-based payments platform, Felix is disrupting remittance payments between the US and Latin America. Here at Checkout.com, we’re proud to be a disruptor in our space by offering payments solutions built for speed and scale supporting unique business needs. This alignment in disrupting the status quo has further strengthened the partnership between the two companies.
Felix is leveraging Checkout.com’s payment suite to help navigate the challenges of remittance payments smoothly and find innovative ways to enhance the user experience. By working with Checkout.com around the clock, Felix has achieved:
By working with the Checkout team, the US remitter’s payment approval rates have risen to over 90%, compared to around 80% before. This has unlocked hundreds of thousands of dollars of additional revenue for Felix.
Importantly, Checkout.com’s reliable payment infrastructure and unrivaled support has helped Felix scale its operations, going from sending around $1 million in remittances per month to $4.9 millon just six months later.
Initially, Felix was focused on using Checkout.com to process debit card payments so they could leverage our local acquiring licenses within the region to increase reliability and functionality.
Subsequently, we introduced Felix to our risk protection products. Using our Fraud Detection Pro tool has helped Felix maintain low rates of fraud, reduce their exposure, and gain more insight into the risks posed across their entire remittance operation.
Manuel reflects on how Checkout.com has reduced their exposure to risk, “Before, our chargeback rate was over 2%, but since using Checkout.com Fraud Detection Pro in harmony with other risk tools, we’re now south of 0.2%. This is amazing, especially because we’re talking about remittances.”
In 2022, payment fraud cost online businesses $41 billion globally and 91% of risk experts believe that year-over-year fraud rates at their organization are continuing to rise. Consequently, it’s vital that businesses leverage the right tools to mitigate their risk. Not only is this important from a financial perspective, it’s also crucial for gaining and maintaining consumer trust.
Trust is a huge issue when it comes to international money transfers. Many Latinos don’t trust remittances apps, but the alternative of using a bank is prohibitively expensive. That’s why Felix, which uses WhatsApp combined with Checkout.com’s payments engine, unlocks a secure, end-to-end transaction with a familiar interface.
Felix is leveraging Checkout.com as a tool for growth by facilitating remittance payments in a secure, reliable, and seamless way. With their AI-powered WhatsApp chat-based approach gaining in popularity, Felix has record growth at 15% month-over-month. Given their rapid growth, they needed the right partner to support their scaling organization.
Manuel describes Felix’s main requirements for a payments partner as follows: “We needed a payment processor that was super reliable and cost-effective.”
Competition in the remittance payments space is fierce, so providers like Felix need to focus on marginal gains to offset their growing cost base. The US remitter also recognized the need to reduce chargebacks, increase approval rates, and further optimize their data to drive consistent revenue growth.
By working closely from the outset, Felix and Checkout.com have developed a strong, value-oriented partnership in lock-step with each other—which will help fuel Felix’s continued growth for years to come.
Following a reduction in their fraud rates and deployment of tools that can easily be scaled, Felix is excited for the future and ready to disrupt remittances in new markets with Checkout.com.
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