Colombia is undergoing a large-scale digital transformation, with the number of online transactions growing fivefold between 2013 and 2017. It is estimated that 30% of the population now use their smartphones to buy everything from draining boards to deodorants.
This trend is radically transforming several ‘zero gravity’ sectors, among them microfinancing and gambling. One company leading the field in both of these segments is Grupo Réditos.
Originally established as GANA S.A. in 2006 by a group of entrepreneurs based in the Department of Antioquia, the conglomerate was designed to pull together the sales and distribution resources of the group of five constituent companies to create a critical mass. “We are an affiliation of entrepreneurs who decided to set up a financial society that would give us the capacity to increase our collective competitiveness in the marketplace,” explains the CEO Oscar Pérez Agudelo.
It has been an outstanding success. The companies that constitute Grupo Réditos daily serve more than one million customers through a combination of their Gana commercial network. The network encompasses 2,000 sales points along with more than 10,000 neighborhood stores and a 5,000-strong army of independent collaborators. Last year it posted revenues of more than $180 million and was recently recognized by the National Association of Entrepreneurs in Colombia (ANDI) as one of the 30 most innovative companies in the country.
In light of Colombians’ enthusiasm for everything virtual, much of that innovative drive has quite logically been focused on the companies’ digital transformation under Grupo Réditos’s umbrella. While the games business still accounts for more than 50% of EBITDA, Grupo Réditos is also actively involved in facilitating utility prepayments, micro-credit and real estate services, all of them transformed by the group’s commitment to digitalization. “We like to think of ourselves as beacons in the field of innovation,” says Pérez. “We are open to change, and we are constantly evolving to meet the challenges posed by the dynamics of a rapidly changing market environment.”
In the process, Grupo Réditos has, through Gana, improved the daily life of countless Colombians by offering a range of services, such as money orders and pre-paid telecommunications. Gana is the largest commercial network in Antioquia and today leads inclusion projects through an agreement with the region’s government-owned power supplier Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) which enables it to sell prepaid energy and other public utilities to all levels of society particularly to low-income families.. The company is also a strategic ally of the Medellín Metro, supplying ticket refill services on Civica cards for riders.
The group also owns Credintegral, a 100% digital credit company whose killer app is its virtual RIS credit card that uses the customer’s fingerprint as its security mechanism. The card has been a huge success and quickly built a base of 30,000 customers, whose average loan is the monthly minimum wage (just over $780). “Credintegral has developed some technological tools that enable it to reach many people who do not have access to mainstream banks, and therefore it performs an important social role,” says Pérez. “We are now looking for strategic allies to help us expand this business further across Central America and the Caribbean.”
Grupo Réditos is in constant development and evolution and has invested $15 million during the past two years as it seeks to harness the latest business technologies, 4.0 smart products and solutions fueled by IoT that are making giant strides in the area of speed and availability of automation and data exchange. “We have always been committed to adopting innovative and transformative technology which has a positive impact on society, to improve the quality of life of both our employees and customers. Our intent is to provide opportunities for growth, sustainability and well-being for everyone,” says Pérez.
If anybody is looking for a business partner that understands the potential of digital technology to simultaneously increase profits and productivity, as well as to act as a social adhesive, then Grupo Réditos should be their first option.