CHALLENGE

Accelerate the digitization of the consortium loan market to deliver an elevated customer experience 

Klubi is a disruptive digital-first fintech company in Brazil that has authorization from the Central Bank to operate as a consortium administrator. Klubi strives to differentiate itself in the market by simplifying the credit loan process through digitization and the effective use of AI. Their goal is to eliminate intermediaries, reduce friction, and provide clients with a personalized and transparent digital experience. 

By effectively leveraging the strengths of messaging apps and the latest conversational AI tools, Klubi were also looking to consolidate their position as a market leader by reducing cost per acquisition and increasing the efficiency of the sales process.

Despite the increasing popularity of the consortium model, the process of contracting a consortium has historically been slow and prone to delays, with inefficient communication between parties and restricted payment options being two of the main causes of friction.

To challenge this perception, Klubi were looking to leverage new technology to deliver direct, conversational, and personalized communication that used AI and other automated processes to enhance the customer experience.

However, given the complexity of their operations, achieving this at scale while maintaining service quality was going to be a challenge. Klubi needed to partner with a communication technology provider that had the experience and expertise to help them achieve their elevated business goals.

Streamlined processes with new digital channels, automated conversational flows, and seamless in-app payment  

Klubi partnered with Infobip to implement a new communication and payment strategy that uses the most popular and cost-effective digital channels alongside automation to deliver a seamless conversational experience that starts the moment a person makes contact and remains consistent throughout their journey from discovery to payment and post-sale support.  

With WhatsApp being the preferred messaging app for 90% of the Brazilian population, Klubi primarily communicates with its customers using the WhatsApp Business Platform. However, with the growth of RCS in the country and the unique advantages of SMS for certain use cases, it was recognized that an omnichannel approach would be best to meet members’ needs.

The strength of the Infobip platform is that multiple channels can be managed to work together in an orchestrated manner through all phases of the customer journey.

1. Discovery

Customers’ enhanced experience begins when they arrive on the Klubi website to explore loan options from entry points including paid ads, organic search, and referrals from partners. Through our customer engagement solution, we enable automated communication that answers their questions and keeps them engaged with personalized messages delivered in a conversational way, and at just the right time.  

2. Lead qualification

After the initial engagement stage, prospects move into the lead qualification flow where a combination of AI agents and human sales representatives filter and qualify them using 60+ mapped journeys.

Newly acquired leads who abandon their carts at this stage are fed into a re-engagement flow which uses conversational RCS messages orchestrated via our customer engagement solution to encourage them to re-engage. The cost-effectiveness of the RCS channel in Brazil and its support for rich media make it ideal for this type of campaign.  

Qualified leads then move into the critical negotiation phase where Klubi can leverage technology to truly differentiate themselves.  

3. Sales negotiation

With tighter credit conditions in Brazil, customers are increasingly price-sensitive and selective. This increases the need for personalized negotiations, installment discussions, and objection handling. In order to facilitate this at scale, Klubi has deployed a combination of rule-based chatbots and their own generative AI agents that have been integrated into our chatbot building platform Answers.   

The AI can present different consortium plans, negotiate installments, handle objections, and guide customers all the way to payment. When needed, the AI agents can hand over seamlessly to a human agent through our cloud contact center solution Conversations, with a complete 360-degree view of the lead’s journey to that point to ensure continuity.

4. Payments

Before adopting WhatsApp Payments, Klubi sent customers their PIX codes or boleto barcodes as separate text messages. This meant customers had to select the message and then copy the code — which added at least two extra steps to the process. This friction risked causing delays and increased the chance of drop-offs.

By automating the process on WhatsApp, the payment step happens within the same thread as the sales conversation. The AI triggers a WhatsApp Payment template, where the customer sees a button labeled “Copy PIX code” or “Copy boleto barcode”. With a single click, the code is copied ready to be pasted into their banking app to finalize payment. This small change makes the process feel natural and intuitive and reduces drop-offs.

5. Post sale support and business as usual

Beyond sales, chatbots also serve in customer support scenarios, answering common questions and providing information instantly. When needed, the chatbots can escalate support issues seamlessly to a human agent through Infobip Conversations, ensuring continuity in the journey.

Recognizing that some channels are better suited to certain types of communication, Klubi has implemented SMS for some transactional communications, such as two-factor authentication (2FA), and both email and RCS for promotional interactions including re-engagement campaigns and special offers.

4x increase in lead conversions and enhanced operational efficiency 

The implementation of our solutions has brought significant results for Klubi:

• 4x more lead conversions thanks to automated flows that enhance the efficiency of the entire sales process and maximize customer engagement. 
• 3x reduction in the customer support team through AI and automated lead filtering. This has enabled Klubi to maintain a leaner operation while increasing efficiency and consistency in customer service.  
• 25% increase in conversion rate to purchase – directly attributable to the use of Payments on the WhatsApp Business Platform.  

By taking an omnichannel approach and choosing the ideal channel for every use case has enabled Klubi to make important efficiency gains without impacting their quality of service. For example, for their always-on reactivation campaign they have been able to achieve the same conversion rate using RCS in place of WhatsApp but with a cost per acquisition 3.5 times lower. 

Klubi’s success demonstrates that by pushing innovation and maintaining their early adopter mindset they have been able to turn new technologies and advancements in AI into a competitive advantage. Whether it is Infobip’s new chatbot capabilities or innovations like WhatsApp Payments, they are delivering on their goal to deliver a unique customer experience and are transforming the perception of the consortium market in Brazil.