In a recent feature by Stellar (XLM), Bernardo Garcia, co-founder of Félix, shared his journey and the motivations behind creating a revolutionary payments platform aimed at helping U.S.-based Latino immigrants. Félix, a WhatsApp-based payment platform, enables users to send money back to their relatives in Latin America, addressing a significant challenge faced by many immigrants.
Addressing Financial Barriers
Garcia’s experience upon arriving in the U.S. highlighted the inefficiencies and high costs associated with traditional banking systems. He recounted a personal story where he lost 5% of his savings in a single international wire transfer due to bank fees. This experience underscored the need for a more efficient and cost-effective solution for money transfers.
“When I first came here, I had to do an international wire transfer from my Mexican bank account to my U.S. bank account. I lost 5% of all my savings in that single transaction,” Garcia explained. “Imagine 5% of everything that you’ve worked for or saved for just evaporates in one single transaction. That was a very sad day.”
Inspiration Behind Félix
Garcia and his co-founder Manuel were inspired by the struggles of Latino immigrants, who often face greater financial barriers. Garcia highlighted that the Latino community is the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. and remains largely underserved by traditional financial institutions.
“We had a very clear group in mind. The amount of immigrants that come to the U.S. every year, a significant portion of them are Latinos like me, and they are completely underserved,” Garcia remarked. “It’s not possible for the problem to stay so big for a group of people so large. We just wanted to help them.”
Impact of Félix
Félix was built with the aim of providing a reliable and affordable solution for immigrants to send money back home. Garcia and Manuel drew inspiration from individuals they knew personally, such as Ophelia and Tere, who provided cleaning services, and Guadalupe and Augustine, who worked hard but struggled with the high costs of money transfers.
“Manuel also knew people like Guadalupe and Augustine who were very close to his brother, people they used to see working so hard, trying to make the most out of their money and then just getting crushed every time they needed to move it,” Garcia said. “So they were the ones we had in mind when we were building Félix.”
For more detailed insights from Bernardo Garcia, visit the original Stellar blog post.
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