A Sevillian startup comes with everything to completely change the way you send money with your mobile. With the idea of competing directly against such legendary platforms as Bizum, Silbo Money, a new Spanish fintech, has just received approval from the Bank of Spain to launch its payments platform integrated directly into WhatsApp.
The idea behind Silbo Money is to turn WhatsApp into your digital wallet. You’ll be able to send money to your friends as easily as you send them a message or split the restaurant bill without leaving your group chat. That is exactly what this startup proposes, taking advantage of the fact that more than 95% of smartphone users in Spain use WhatsApp every day.
Of course, what is hidden behind it is a lot of work – it was born as Pagochat in 2021 – and a team formed by Ángel Cano, former CEO of BBVA, and Luis Cantero, one of the original creators of Bizum.
This great combination has managed to raise 1.5 million euros in its initial phase, with plans to reach an additional two million in 2025.
Silbo Money
As for how it would work, Silbo Money would appear as another contact on your WhatsApp list. Through a chat with this contact, you can carry out your operations: send and receive money, divide expenses between groups, pay in stores and manage expenses. All without leaving WhatsApp.
Returning to the beginning, they have already received approval from the Bank of Spain and are thus preparing for their launch. They will begin a testing phase with 10,000 selected users for three months, before opening to the general public. Finally, they indicate that they want to expand globally and also integrate with other platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
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Tags: Spain, Apps, WhatsApp, Economy