Orange X was born with an ongoing investment of US $ 50 million

Although he has been working for months, the arm fintech de Naranja was finally presented in society and with its own name: Orange X.

The company, which operates autonomously, already has 120 employees (born with a team of 20 people) and aims for 200 before the end of the year.

In front is Gastón Irigoyen, with experience in Google (he was the fifth employee of that technology in the country), YouTube, Restorando, iMundial and Guidecentral.

The new firm develops a work plan that involves investments of 50 million dollars between 2019 and 2020 to strengthen the “Orange ecosystem”, which includes financial and non-financial products and services.

But the ambition is greater: “We have the innovative DNA of Orange. Today we are launching into the open market in Argentina, but with the aspiration to be a regional technology company, ”Irigoyen said.

Wallet

What is Orange X? It is a new company in the universe fintech mounted on a platform that offers 100 percent products mobile and whose first act is an application with the characteristics of a virtual wallet.

Although today it operates properly for Orange customers (five million, with nine million plastics), the goal is to transcend them.

The bet is big and that's why it comes out with incentives. One of them is to grant, free of charge and "forever" – Irigoyen explained – insurance for the new client's cell phone.

The coverage is scalable as more transactions are made. It starts with 4,000 pesos to cover the screen break and reaches up to 20 thousand for theft, a benefit that is mounted on the structure of Galicia Seguros.

Another service is the possibility of loading, through the application, the urban transport card. In addition to the Upload card, it is available for 21 provinces, Córdoba among them, through Red Bus. And the first load, of 100 pesos, is rewarded.

A third attraction is the purchase and sale of dollars, every day 24 hours a day and, according to Irigoyen, at the most competitive price in the market, with very low spread. In fact, yesterday near noon, when the launch was made at WeWork Polo Studio (Buenos Aires City), the dollar in Orange X operated at 56.90 pesos for sale and 56.55 for the purchase (just 35 cents of difference).

It also links operations with QR code (applied in more than 500 stores in Córdoba), a service that is expected to advance when interoperability with other players flows.

New layers

While the Orange X team was focused on launching its new product and putting together the structure to provide support and customer service 24 hours a day, every day of the year, the new layers for climbing are also being outlined.

Although there is nothing defined, Irigoyen said that this menu includes interoperability, transfers abroad, cryptocurrencies, payment of bills, and operation with other plastics, in addition to those of Orange, among other roads. "We hope to be able to go out with something else before the end of the year," said the executive.

In that process, a key point is also the evolution of the rating requested by Orange before the Central Bank to operate as a digital bank.

The share capital of the company is a mirror of Orange, that is, 83 percent in the hands of the Galicia Financial Group and 17 percent distributed, equally, between the Ruda and Asrin families, founders of Salto 96, the seed of the which was later Orange.

Finance: Technology

Products under the command of the "tech" arm of Orange.

Orange X. It is a virtual wallet. It is charged via transfer from a traditional bank account, with an Orange card or with cash in Easy Payment.

Orange Pos. It allows trading with cards to businesses and professionals. For all plastic. The device costs 169 pesos and commissions range from zero (charge in 35 days) to 4.99 percent (in 48 hours).

Others. Under its umbrella are also Orange Travel, Orange Insurance and Orange Credits.