Facio

What Facio does

Facio is a Brazilian consumer fintech that provides salary-advance and personal-credit products to salaried workers via a mobile application available on iOS and Android. The platform originated to serve employees of enterprise partner companies as a free financial-wellness benefit and has since expanded to direct-to-consumer distribution, reaching over 3 million cumulative users and R$1.7 billion+ in advances originated, with a reported 82% customer satisfaction rate.

The product architecture combines a mobile app front-end with an automated credit analysis algorithm that reads users' bank statements through Brazil's Open Finance framework to compute individualized salary-advance limits (up to 35% of monthly salary, with disbursement in as little as two minutes). Repayment is automated through PIX Inteligente, which executes scheduled PIX transfers from the user's authorized account to a Facio payment account on the pay date. The platform also offers a longer-duration personal-credit product (Crédito Fácil) and a savings feature (Poupe Facio). Facio does not lend directly; it operates as a correspondent bank under Resolução CMN nº 4.935/2021 for QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A. (CNPJ 32.402.502/0001-35), which issues the underlying Cédulas de Crédito Bancário and holds the payment account infrastructure.

The business model is anchored on transaction fees (a fixed R$9.90 per salary advance rather than interest), supplemented by interest income on the personal-credit book (calculated on a 365-day exponential pro rata basis) and a R$10–R$15-per-conversion referral program. The company is based in São Paulo, employs 11–50 people, has raised approximately $17.5M in venture funding across a 2020 pre-seed, 2020 seed, and 2024 Series A led by Monashees with participation from Y Combinator, ONEVC, FEBE Ventures, and Mago Capital, and was founded in 2020 by ex-SumUp and ex-AWS operators.

Name

Facio

Legal name

FACIO PAGAMENTOS LTDA

Website

https://facio.com.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Facio is a Brazilian fintech offering salary-advance and personal-credit products to salaried workers via a mobile app, operating as a correspondent bank for QI SCD and using Open Finance and PIX Inteligente for automated underwriting and repayment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Salary Anticipation Fee: Users pay a fixed transaction fee (starting at R$9.90) to access salary anticipation. The fee is charged per transaction rather than as interest, making it distinct from traditional credit products.
2. Personal Credit Interest: The company also offers personal credit (Crédito Fácil) where interest accrues on the financed amount, calculated exponentially pro rata temporis on a 365-day basis.
3. Referral Program Rewards: Users earn rewards (R$10-R$15 per referral) when their referred contacts complete their first transaction, funded by customer acquisition costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Facio is a Brazilian fintech mobile platform that provides salary advances (Antecipação de Salário) and personal credit (Crédito Pessoal) to salaried workers. Users can access up to 35% of their monthly salary in advance for a fixed transaction fee starting at R$9.90, with funds disbursed via PIX and repayment automatically collected on the next pay date. Facio operates as a correspondent bank for QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A. and uses Open Finance to analyze bank data and issue credit decisions in approximately two minutes.

Product overview

Facio operates as a BaaS (Bank-as-a-Service) platform offering two primary credit products — Antecipação de Salário (salary advance, capped at 35% of monthly salary) and Crédito Pessoal (personal loan via CCB) — both issued in partnership with QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A. as the creditor institution. A core component is PIX Inteligente, an automatic repayment feature powered by Open Finance that triggers scheduled PIX transfers on pay dates. The platform also includes a referral program (Programa de Indicações) and a branded prepaid payment account (Conta Facio) for fund settlement. Facio acts as a correspondent bank (correspondingente bancário) for QI SCD and does not operate as a direct lender.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Antecipação de Salário (Salary Advance) Salary advance service allowing employees to receive up to 35% of their monthly salary in advance, deposited directly into their bank account within minutes to two business days. Users pay a fixed fee rather than interest, with repayment automatically collected via PIX on the next pay date.
• Crédito Pessoal (Crédito Fácil / Personal Credit) Personal credit product issued through QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A. providing loans without specific destination, with interest accruing on the financed amount and transparent disclosure of repayment terms and Custo Efetivo Total (CET) in the simulator before contracting.
• Conta Facio (Facio Payment Account) Prepaid payment account opened at QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A. for each user, enabling receipt of advance disbursements and automated collection of repayment. The account is free and created with the user's express consent to settle salary advances or personal loans contracted through the Facio app.
• Programa de Indicações (Referral Program) Referral program where existing users share their unique referral link and earn rewards (cash deposits, discounts, vouchers, credit limit increases) after the referred user completes their first loan repayment. Reward values are campaign-specific and subject to periodic updates.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% customer satisfaction rate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A.coreTechnology or Integration · 19 February 2020Facio operates as a correspondent bank for QI SCD (CNPJ 32.402.502/0001-35), a direct credit society authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil. QI SCD provides the Bank-as-a-Service infrastructure, including loan issuance, CCB (bank credit notes), and the Facio Payment Account for automated settlements via PIX Inteligente.
• INICIADOR INSTITUIÇÃO DE PAGAMENTO LTDA.coreTechnology or IntegrationPayment initiation institution (CNPJ 44.471.172/0001-19) authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, participating in PIX and Open Finance. Provides the PIX Inteligente technology for automated loan repayments.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DailyPay: DailyPay is the largest US-based earned-wage-access platform, providing on-demand pay through employer integrations. It is directly comparable to Facio in product (salary advance via employer channel) and business model, with the same fee-based per-transaction revenue model.
• Caju: Caju is a Brazilian earned-wage-access and employee benefits platform offering salary advance and meal/food cards via employer partnerships. It is the closest direct competitor to Facio, with the same B2B2C motion targeting HR departments and an identical focus on Brazilian payroll-linked credit.
• Earnin: Earnin is a US consumer-facing earned-wage-access app that lets users withdraw accrued wages before payday. Comparable to Facio's mobile-first B2C salary-advance product with a no-interest/fee model, though distributed direct-to-consumer rather than through employer benefit channels.
• Even: Even is a US earned-wage-access and financial wellness platform serving employees via employer partnerships. Comparable to Facio in offering payroll-linked advances plus budgeting tools to working consumers, with employer-paid or B2B2C distribution model.
• Payactiv: Payactiv is a US earned-wage-access and bill-payment platform integrated with employers and payroll systems. Directly comparable to Facio as a salary-advance product targeting the same employee-via-employer distribution motion with transaction-fee economics.

Broad incumbents

• Nubank: Nubank is the largest Brazilian digital bank serving over 90M customers with credit cards, personal loans, and accounts. Relevant as a broad incumbent that could easily add salary-advance features inside its banking app, posing competitive pressure on Facio's standalone product.
• Inter & Co. Inter is a major Brazilian digital bank offering checking accounts, credit, payroll loans (crédito consignado), and investments. Comparable as a broad incumbent already in payroll-linked credit, which overlaps with Facio's salary-advance offering from a much larger customer base.
• C6 Bank: C6 Bank is a Brazilian digital bank offering accounts, credit cards, and personal loans including payroll-linked products. Relevant as an incumbent with established banking infrastructure and lower cost of capital than Facio's correspondent-bank arrangement.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Facio