Nelo

Nelo is a Mexico City-based fintech offering consumer credit and buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in Mexico. Users register in the app with their CURP and a valid INE identification, receive a credit decision in minutes, and repay purchases in biweekly installments, selecting one, two or four payments at checkout. Credit limits begin small and grow over time with usage, and the company positions repayment activity as a way for users to build a credit history.

Beyond retail purchases, the app bundles several use cases: paying CFE electricity, water, gas and internet bills and mobile top-ups in installments; cash withdrawals delivered as instant transfers repaid biweekly; Tienda Nelo, an in-app storefront selling products in interest-free installments; online shopping at partner stores; in-person payments via Google Wallet; and a VIP program whose VIP Plus tier includes a physical card usable anywhere. Early users frequently began with utility and phone bill payments, shifting from prepaid to postpaid behavior, before moving into retail purchases.

Merchants and services accessible through Nelo have included Amazon Mexico, Mercado Libre, Telcel, Netflix, Spotify, Steve Madden, Ben & Frank, Shein, Coppel, Zara, Cinépolis and Movistar.

Founding story

Kyle Miller and Stephen Hebson met on Uber's international growth team, where they worked on financial services products in India, Mexico, China and Brazil. Observing how mobile payments and digital finance advanced quickly in markets like China and India while cash still dominated Mexican transactions, they founded Nelo in 2019 to address limited consumer credit access in Mexico.

Business model

Nelo extends short-term consumer credit that borrowers repay in biweekly installments (quincenas), letting customers choose the number of payments at checkout. Credit lines start small and increase gradually with repayment behavior. The company operates both a consumer mobile app and an embedded checkout experience for merchants, and reported lending about $2 million through its credit product as of April 2021.

Revenue derives from its consumer credit and installment product; the company reported revenue and GMV growing about 50% month over month as of October 2021 and roughly 20% month-over-month growth in April 2021.

Traction

In April 2021 Nelo reported more than 45 merchants, over 150,000 users, about $2 million lent and roughly 20% month-over-month growth. By October 2021 it was live with more than 100 merchants, saw over 100,000 purchases per month and 50% month-over-month revenue and GMV growth, and had 23 employees, up from 12 in January 2021. In September 2023 it was reported to be usable at more than 300 stores. Company figures now cite over 5 million downloads, more than 40 million credits granted and over 2 million people with Nelo credit.

Latest developments

As of its current site, Nelo reports more than 5 million app downloads, over 40 million credits granted and more than 2 million people holding credit with it, with ratings of 4.8 on Google Play and 4.9 on the Apple App Store. Product scope has broadened beyond BNPL checkout to bill payment and top-ups, instant cash withdrawal transfers, the Tienda Nelo storefront, Google Wallet in-person payments and a VIP program with a physical VIP Plus card.