00:00Christina, thank you so much for being here today. It's great to see you again. This conversation should be started by you asking about the revolvingdoor. It is impossible to go to a Brazilian bank and not see one with a revolvingdoor in front of it. A few years back, you and your new big staff put a revolvingdoor right next to the portraits. Is that what you were trying to convey? People were anxious to see if they could just cut their expenses since we opened a bank and began issuing credit cards. The core works in the same way as traditional banking. They needed more. They required an account product. A debit card was needed. Some people are not eligible for credit card products. We were ready to give people back at that moment. The thing that was stopping people from cutting the cord and becoming our customers was no longer there. We realized that the best metaphor for what was standing in our way was the revolving doors. We used revolving doors to communicate that our customer was in control of their world. The revolving doors have reached 40 million customers during the pandemic. How do you interpret that success? It's so fascinating because they told us to tell the V.A. when we first started. My partner and I knew that we would need to spend lots of money marketing to get people to care about banks. They aren't loved everywhere, but they are hated in Brazil. These are terrible experiences. No one wakes up excited to open a bank account or get a credit card. It's not like buying a new car or a phone. It's something that people hate thinking about. Since we began, we have been constantly amazed at the amount and radicality of words that were needed to get something like no bank to follow. The amazing thing about the last couple of years was what we witnessed. As you said, we have reached 40 million customers. That's more than twice the number of people who came to us in the past year. People didn't want their skin exposed. It must have happened. You will always be with them. So far, that's exactly what we have seen. There is very little churn, but you can't say zero. We don't charge any fees for this. We offer them a better customer experience. We don't see any churn like we see higher and higher activation levels. We've experienced epidemics without banks. You are so wrong. You said that they were more hated than any other country in the world, but they don't exist anywhere else. It's amazing that this has happened. It's been very comfortable for them over the last few decades. It's right. It is a sector that accounts for 30 percent of the region's GDP. If you felt you weren't being well served by any of the banks, where would you go? It was just like them. There wasn't anything consumers could do. It was quite normal. This is because you are Brazilian. These were the top complaints companies worldwide. The country. They were all banks that they were for decades. These are the companies that people most hate. They also paid some of the highest fees and highest interest rates in the world. It was a terrible experience. This was because it was very costly to continue in the same way as before. It was an oligopoly before we came along. You made it clear that this was one of the most regulated industries in the globe. Banks have a lot power, as you mentioned the 30% of the region's GDP. How will you fight back? Do you worry that regulators will come in to help banks in any way? Or regulation is going changeand firms like yours will have a harder time. Do you worry about that? When we started, we were extremely concerned. You know that things can change in a regulated industry. There is no end to the story. Right. Because technology brings new applications. Technology brings new applications. We didn't realize that regulators were excited about bringing competition to this market. They were also tired of being treated unfairly by consumers. So we discovered that Brazil's central bank was the most enthusiastic. They wanted to see challengers come in and offer better experience for consumers. You're well aware that there is always risk. There are always changes. Over the eight years that we have been in business, we have seen that all of these changes always lead to better customer experiences and easier competition. It was easier to offer customers alternatives, so we can move in the right direction. It's not something we are concerned about. This is not to suggest that banks haven’t tried to stop us in various ways. It's as simple as that. You know they first ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you. Chris, you have actually been able to run the business independently. Your worth is not 30 billion dollars. What's next? If you take a look at financial technology, what is the next big innovation? Customers are asking us to do many things, such as to create airline companies or utility companies wherever they see a poor experience. They want us to fix it for them. We're glad to help them right now. Insurance is one of our latest innovations. This is a huge industry that is ready to be disrupted. One product has been launched, but there are many more that can be done to simplify the industry. You also cover the asset management side. We recently acquired the largest digital investment broker from Brazil, isinvest, and are integrating it into our offering. We have the potential to offer investment products that are not only available to the wealthy, but also to reach a wider audience. This will allow us to offer products that aren't normally available to the public. The crypto craze, I mean are you interested in it? Are you a Bitcoin owner? Your opinion on the subject. I have some Bitcoin. It is an intriguing technology. This technology has the potential to transform assets. We know customers sow. You can just sit back. There is a lot demand for this asset class all around the globe. We are constantly looking at ways to meet that demand. Chrisyou are one of the few female founders of startups that have created unicorns. Who are your heroes? What do you think your mother fosters in finance and creative thinkers? There are many inspiring people in finance, I have to admit. I'm open to ideas from all walks of life. My main inspiration has been that Disney iseverything the Walt Disney Company does. Their work has been an inspiration to me and we can draw a lot from them in terms of making our customer experience magical. We can borrow a lot from them. We borrowed a lot from Amazon because they are so obsessed with their customers. This is something we have been thinking about since the beginning. Another mindset is to make sure that they are always hungry so you don't rest on your laurels. This is something we all hold dearly. What do you think the future financial landscape will look like? Let's imagine a decade, five years or five years from now. I don't mean just surviving. Many of the banks will have trouble surviving, I believe. They might become infrastructure like utilities. The pipes are a problem. Other companies will offer better experiences. They will design innovative products that people want, something they have been failing at for decades. A few may like the fact that they have access to capital and how large they are. We'll see. We know that customers are now aware that there are other options and that they won't settle for a bad experience. You mentioned that there have been some regulations that are a big threat. It's not a new trend to be big. Do you really think that you could be subject to the regulations that regulators have for large banks? We have. You are correct. There are so many regulations we have to follow. Cybersecurity is a way to prevent money laundering. We have many regulatory angles. In fact, we face the same burdens and face the same obstacles as big banks. Regulators are smart, and they design regulation in a proportional manner for a reason. As we get older, we are less susceptible to fluctuations. This is because if you have one product, it can be a hundred percent of what you like today. We have credit cards, debitcards, an account product, personal loans, and investments. It is hard to imagine a world where there would be so many negative regulatory changes in all of the different verticals that would affect us negatively. Let's wrap it up. You are so. Three new banks. How would you see this? It is it successful? What are your dreams? What is your ideal place to move? It is amazing how many Latin Americans are unbanked or under banks. They have never had any financial services. There is dignity in having access to financial services that allows youto save money and allow you to become an entrepreneur. That's the money we have been saving our customers in Brazil. Over 20 billion in housing fees have been saved by us to travel in Brazil. These savings have been made over the last few years. That money could be used to fund healthcare, food, education and many other things. We have big dreams of being ableto free more people, perhaps tens of million or hundreds of millions, from all of that complexity and financial burden. This will allow them to be the best version of themselves. They have control over their lives and have their dignity back.
