Ualá is a personal financial managementmobile app developed in Argentina linked to a Mastercardprepaid card that allows users to conduct financial transactions, such as, transferring money and making payments and purchases, both in Argentina and abroad. Founded by Pierpaolo Barbieri, this neobank was developed and launched in Argentina, where mobile phone penetration is at 92% and banking penetration is at 50%. With Ualá, users can manage their money through their cell phones without having a bank account. As a fintechapp, Ualá operates with a Mastercard prepaid card, with no issuing, renewal, maintenance or closing fees. It is sent to the user's home free-of-charge when he or she registers in Ualá and it can be used in participating retail stores and online. Moreover, the user can add money to the card from a bank account or with cash at any Pago Fácil, a money transfer and bill paying service chain owned by Western Union. It is also possible to withdraw money from Banelco's and Red Link's ATMsfor free, twice a month, and transfer money free and instantly to other Ualá accounts, in compliance with the security protocols for online commercial transactions. Ualá also allows users to keep track of their expenses and personal finances. It sends automatic push notifications to the user when a transaction is carried out, and it arranges expenses by categories to keep track of them. In the future, the app will allow users to request personal loans and credit cards. Regarding safety, Ualá's system verifies the user ID with a selfie and a picture of the ID that is issued by the Argentine government. If the card is lost or stolen, users can ‘freeze’ the card from the app to avoid unauthorized transactions and activate it again when the card is recovered. Ualá is available only in Argentina for Android and iOS devices and it can be downloaded for free on both Google Play and the iOS App Store. Ualá was launched in Argentina in October 2017. It was founded by Pierpaolo Barbieri and financed by international investors like Soros Fund Management, Jefferies investment bank, General Catalyst Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Point72 Ventures and Kevin P. Ryan.. They closed their latest round of financing, $150 million from Tencent, at a valuation of around $950 million.
