Jelou Turns WhatsApp into a Financial Super App in Latin America

For years, WhatsApp was seen solely as an instant messaging app. However, advances in artificial intelligence and financial digitization are transforming that perception: today it’s possible to open bank accounts, apply for loans, sign contracts, make payments, or even access remittances without leaving a chat. What used to take days or weeks in offices, with forms and validations, can now be resolved in minutes from your phone.

That’s the goal of Jelou, the Latin American fintech company that aims to transform WhatsApp into a secure transactional channel for banks, retailers, and millions of users across the region. The fintech wants to turn WhatsApp into more than just a customer service channel; it seeks to establish it as a financial infrastructure for banks, retailers, and consumer goods companies in Latin America.

The company, founded in 2017 by Luis Loaiza and his partner, began developing chatbots for financial entities when the concept of artificial intelligence had not yet dominated the technological conversation.

Today, in the midst of regional expansion and after closing a Series A round for US$10 million, Jelou claims to have processed more than US$100 million in transactions and granted more than US$80 million in consumer loans directly from WhatsApp.

“WhatsApp is the busiest digital avenue in Latin America,” stated Loaiza, CEO and co-founder of Jelou, in an interview with Valora Analitik. He explained that the app’s penetration rate exceeds 90% among internet users in the region, but the financial system has yet to fully leverage this reach to execute secure and comprehensive transactions through the platform.

Jelou plans to strengthen its presence in Colombia and Mexico

Jelou’s thesis starts from a simple premise: while traditional banking continues to concentrate efforts on mobile applications and websites, millions of users already conduct much of their digital life from conversational platforms.

That’s where Brain OS comes in, the platform developed by the fintech company, which allows you to run complete financial processes without leaving WhatsApp: payments, identity verification, account openings, electronic signatures, loans and collections.

“The problem is that most current chatbots are insecure and don’t execute real transactions. They end up simply being CRMs connected to WhatsApp that send external links,” Loaiza explained.

According to Jelou, nearly 30% of users abandon a purchase when they receive a payment link outside of the conversation. Jelou’s strategy is precisely to eliminate that friction. Instead of redirecting to external pages, the platform integrates native transactional components directly into WhatsApp.

“Instead of them sending you a link and making you feel insecure, we make the user click on a button and complete the operation without leaving WhatsApp,” the executive explained at the IA Summit held in Bogotá.

This point is especially relevant for banking and e-commerce in a region where digital fraud and identity theft remain one of the main obstacles to accelerating financial digitization.

Therefore, security became one of the central pillars of Jelou’s model. The company ensures compliance with international standards such as ISO 27001 and PCI protocols for transactional operations. Furthermore, it implements end-to-end encryption mechanisms, identity validation, and authentication directly connected to banking systems.

“We can encrypt the data that travels from the user to the bank without third parties having access to that information,” Loaiza stated.

The approach seeks to resolve one of the main dilemmas faced by digital financial users in Latin America: distrust towards banking transactions carried out through messaging applications.

In parallel, the fintech company also found a business opportunity to connect traditional banks and small businesses. “They don’t have to choose between fintech and traditional banking. We are the layer that connects banks with SMEs through WhatsApp,” the CEO pointed out.

The proposal allows small businesses to enable e-commerce processes, apply for loans, open accounts, or make transfers from a conversation, without needing to develop their own applications or invest in complex digital infrastructure.

Large companies and banks are already betting on Jelou’s strategy on WhatsApp

Jelou’s strategy has already begun to gain traction among large regional companies. Jelou’s clients and partners include Falabella Colombia, Arca Continental, Femsa, Banco de Crédito del Perú, Banco Guayaquil, and Banco Unión, in addition to technology agreements with Meta, Google, and Huawei .

In the case of Falabella, the company is working on the artificial intelligence infrastructure used in the retailer’s WhatsApp channels. According to figures shared by Jelou, “one in six Falabella chats ends in a real sale,” with conversion rates close to 16.5%.

The integration allows users to receive automated product recommendations and complete purchases directly within the conversation. “The user can say, ‘I want to get my mom something,’ and the system recommends products from the catalog that can then be purchased in the same flow,” Loaiza explained.

The platform’s reach is also expanding into remittances and currency exchange. The fintech company is currently working with Banco Unión in Colombia and Banco Azteca in Mexico on use cases related to international transfers and currency exchange transactions via WhatsApp, a sector that has generated significant interest among global investors.

“There are startups that have raised US$75 million just to facilitate remittances via WhatsApp ” the executive stated. Another area of ​​growth lies in the digitization of business processes. According to the company, contracts and electronic signatures that previously could take up to 30 days are now completed in less than 10 minutes through automated workflows within the messaging application.

The expansion comes at a time when generative artificial intelligence is redefining the regional fintech industry. However, Jelou argues that the real differentiator will not be solely AI, but the ability to transform it into secure transactional infrastructure.

“We believe that the intelligence the world will trust is not just artificial intelligence, but companies that can orchestrate it securely,” the CEO concluded.

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(Featured image by Adem AY via Unsplash)

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First published in VALORA ANALITIK. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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