Context
CrediTía is the consumer financing arm of the Tía retail chain, one of the leading retail players in Ecuador. For years, customer credit activation depended on traditional processes: manual verifications, paper forms and in‑person signatures that could take more than three days to complete.
The model not only slowed the purchase decision in store, but also generated high operating costs—around USD 8 per credit opening—and achieved limited conversion, below 20%. The company needed a radically different approach to scale its financing business profitably.
The challenge
The challenge was to digitize and scale loan placement without compromising control or traceability. Main pain points included excessive wait times, high operating costs from manual verifications and paper workflows, and lack of visibility in the flow, complicating audits and risk control.
To meet retail growth and the need for fast financing, CrediTía sought an end‑to‑end model combining agility, traceability and a frictionless experience.
The solution
Together with Jelou, CrediTía launched a fully digital conversational credit flow on WhatsApp, integrating data capture, identity verification and real‑time credit scoring; e‑signature and instant disbursement, completely eliminating paperwork; and direct integration with ERP and POS, enabling immediate credit use for in‑store purchases.
The conversational channel became the new access point for financing, drastically reducing friction for both customers and internal teams.
Results
Over USD 20 million in loans placed; 38,000 loans issued to more than 30,000 people; 85% overall conversion, compared to less than 20% with the traditional model; and a sharp reduction in operating costs per opening, thanks to eliminating in‑person procedures.
The new system not only accelerated consumption, but also provided full traceability and real‑time metrics to audit, control risks and optimize campaigns.
