Arturo Villanueva, who spent over four years working with Stripe's financial partnerships team, has founded Alza. During his time at Stripe, Villanue
Arturo Villanueva, who spent over four years working with Stripe’s financial partnerships team, has founded Alza. During his time at Stripe, Villanueva led partnerships with major financial institutions like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and regional banks across Latin America. He also forged strategic deals with prominent U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Wells-Fargo, and Bank of America, in addition to overseeing the development of the infrastructure behind Stripe’s cross-border payouts product, enabling payments in over 100 countries.
Villanueva’s motivation for founding Alza stemmed from his personal experience as an immigrant in the United States, where he encountered challenges with banking services. He realized the potential to address these issues by crafting thoughtful financial infrastructure. Founded in October 2021, Alza is a startup dedicated to meeting the banking needs of Latin or Central American immigrants in the U.S. After two years of development and securing partnerships, Alza is now launching publicly.
Alza offers users an FDIC-insured checking account and debit card, but what sets it apart is its capability to facilitate cross-border remittances to over 20 countries in Latin or Central America through its app. Users can choose from various methods, including bank transfers, cash pick-up, or transfers to debit cards, depending on the recipient country. These transfers are generally executed on the same day and at competitive rates, simplifying the experience for users who often encounter friction when dealing with multiple financial service accounts.
Moreover, Alza enables peer-to-peer payments and has designed an inclusive verification process that accepts various forms of identification, including Social Security numbers, individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN), international passports, consular cards, certain driver’s licenses, and national ID cards from Latin American countries. The service is bilingual in English and Spanish.
It’s essential to note that Alza is not a bank; it partners with First Internet Bank of Indiana for banking services and card issuance, and The Bancorp for cross-border transfer services. Alza is committed to adhering to financial regulations and laws, ensuring compliance with requirements like FinCEN Chapter X, Dodd-Frank, Reg E, Reg P, and OFAC regulations.
As Alza continues to grow, its revenue model will involve interchange fees, interest on deposits, and a small fee on cross-border payments. The company raised $6.6 million in funding in late 2021, with Thrive Capital leading the round. Prominent backers include Henrique Dubugras (Brex co-founder and CEO), Sebastian Mejia (Rappi co-founder and president), Cristina Cordova (Linear COO), and Sarah Heck (former White House advisor to President Obama and head of entrepreneurship at Stripe).
Alza’s founding team, which includes Andrew Mahon and David Meadows, boasts significant experience in the fintech industry. Villanueva and his team have identified a growing demographic and business opportunity in serving Latin and Central American immigrants in the U.S. The economic impact of Latinos in the U.S. is substantial, making them a significant market for financial services. Thrive’s investment in Alza was partly driven by the potential to serve this underserved market.
Alza currently serves numerous countries, including Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Uruguay.
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