Tpaga Readies for Central America Expansion

Colombian paytech platform Tpaga, co-founded by Andrés Gutiérrez and Juan Salcedo, is preparing for its expansion into Central America. Gutiérrez and Salcedo, previously behind the taxi app Tappsi, have seen Tpaga grow exponentially with more than 1.5 million users and over a million transactions processed each month. This represents an 800% growth in the past 12 months.

Collaborative Success

Tpaga’s success is in part due to strategic alliances with companies like TikTok, Visa, and Codere. Their white-label business model has also played a key role. Gutiérrez explained that building their own technology was a competitive advantage. This enabled them to create integrations, connections, and products in-house. They are now looking into developing white-label mobile apps for any entity wanting to launch its own wallet with its logos and colors.

Local Adaptations

Backed by venture capital investors and having gone through the accelerator Y Combinator, Tpaga is also the white-label behind Claro Pay in Colombia. With a regional bank, they aim to bring this model to new markets.

Gutiérrez noted that the Central American market shares many similarities with Colombia, including high cash usage, banking levels, and a consumer demand for mobile financial transactions.

Growth and Profitability

Tpaga claims it is on the verge of profitability as it continues to grow in triple digits and expands internationally. With their white-label vertical, the fintech can enable banks, telcos, retailers, cooperatives, among others, to enter the world of financial technology at a much lower cost. This provides the option to launch their own mobile wallet within weeks.