Interview with Founder & CEO, albo – Ángel Sahagún

1. Tell us about yourself and your role at albo?
My name is Ángel Sahagún, I am the Founder  and CEO of albo. I have worked in the technological sector since before finishing college, where I learned about the banking industry and all the obstacles and bureaucracy that is presented to its users. Based on my own experience I decided to create a product that allows anyone to have a digital account and to learn about their finances.

My role in albo is to make sure that the company works properly, along with visiting different investors and supervising the operations within the company.

2. How have you seen the evolution of albo over the years?
We’re thrilled with our achievements, in only two years we have positioned ourselves as the best banking alternative in Mexico.

And we are positive, the best is yet to come.

3. How do you differentiate Albo from other companies dealing with smart payment wallets and platforms?
In albo we have three main differentiators:

1. A great digital experience.
   • a. In just 3 minutes anyone can register and have a digital account and start receiving, transferring and making payments with their money.
2. Zero fees,
   • a. We hate fine print, we won’t charge you for something you didn’t agree.
3. Tools that help the clients to manage their money.
   • a. A graphic display where the users can keep track of their expenses.

4. What advice would you give to a new CFO who is just starting out on a newly developed financial venture? What are the key factors they should focus on?
The product market fit is the most important problem to tackle since the beginning. You have to build something that the people want to use.

5. Do you see people becoming more and more acceptable towards middleware companies like yours in the rapidly pacing FINTECH arena?
Of course, people are tired of having bad experiences in traditional banking. albo has simplified these services, becoming a very friendly and easy to use product, available to anyone with a smartphone.

6. How do you think Albo eases down the whole ordeal of payment processing for customers ?
albo shows you graphically in the app how have you spent your money, dividing the expenses by items, either are online transactions or physical store expenses.

And it is free, so the users won´t worry about another payment.

7. Tell us how do you manage to plug in to a more actionable customer centric model?

We want to make albo the company where anyone can solve any financial need they had, and for this we must offer more financial products in addition to the current.

8. What technology trends do you think will see a massive boom in 2019?
Without a question, AI and Blockchain will continue growing in different products and markets. It is really interesting to see how anyone can adapt them for a new use.

9. Tell us how is it like working for Albo? We won’t mind seeing some fun pictures.
Working in albo requires passion, every day is a different challenge, however, we have a very clear objective: we want to guide and help everyone who lives in Mexico to have better finances. The albo team works doing what we are passionate about, with a lot of freedom, but also with a lot of integrity, in an environment of great collaboration and constant learning.

10. What book are you currently reading?
Blitzscaling, an ideal book for the stage albo is right now.

11. What is the one piece of advice you would follow irrespective of the circumstances?
Don’t settle…keep growing.