Why do companies and people in Brazil consume ever more international (Saas) software?

The already growing demand increased with the pandemic, but the bottlenecks in payments for software impact the daily life of Brazilian people and companies.

For several years and even before the pandemic scenario, Brazil has been attracting foreign companies due to its huge consumer market of 212 million people. Foreign digital companies in particular, have been successful in this expansion, given the eagerness of the population to consume online goods and services. In addition, the Brazilian companies have been attracting the attention of international investors in the past year and multibillion dollar contributions are being made to companies especially in the technology segment, which become unicorns. Currently, Brazil has 12 companies  with a valuation in excess of USD 1 billion, including 99 taxis, Ifood, Vtex, Nubank, Loggi, Stone, and others.

These companies, mostly in segments such as e-commerce, fintechs, logistics processes, among others, as well as the entire technological chain involved in their operations, are high level consumers of international SaaS and need these mechanisms for their own development and productivity. To escalate their business and make them even more efficient, high level CRM tools, financial controls, payments, sales, marketing, etc., are needed.  In addition, the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing made the demand for SaaS increase rapidly, given the need to make all possible business processes digital. For such reasons, this industry is showing an impressive growth year after year in Latin America, with an expected 28% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) by 2022.

The SaaS model is very practical for companies, as it is an intuitive tool with fluid onboarding, integration and execution friendly, and in general, provides specialized support. However, to pay for such tools, several Brazilian companies face a certain difficulty and lack of fluidity. Several SaaS companies still make collections in Brazil in dollars, making payment more complex, with a higher cost in view of taxes and fees, further to the unpredictability caused by exchange rate fluctuations.

The foreign exchange transactions in Brazil are highly regulated, being avoided by companies because of their high complexity and consequently generates a long cycle for completion of the purchase and delays the onboarding of the tools in the companies that need the SaaS. Therefore, offering local payment methods shows to be of advantage for both ends, making the process simpler and accessible to clients, and enabling SaaS businesses to escalate their sales.

Bexs Banco has an end-to-end customized solution which enables the B2B clients in Brazil to perform transactions in local currency and through the local payment methods, according to the following flow:

This solution, which offers local payment methods and FX banking in one single platform, ensures an online control of the FX  rates, through a smart hedge tool. Every transaction is simple and automated via API integration, or only through payment link (URL) with no need of integration, causing a faster onboarding of the tool.

This process is extremely advantageous for those making sales, as it enables a market share gain in Brazil and ensures the total contract amount without charges, as all fees are calculated by the tool and paid directly by the client. The B2B clients, in turn, have a speedier, more predictable payment process, and in accordance with all tax and compliance standards.

Brazil is a huge, ever increasing market, and stands in 9th place in the global SaaS consumer market. It also stands out for its 31.5% growth rate in the adoption of the Saas during the pandemic, with adaptation to remote work. These data show that there is a considerable market to be exploited, and with the attention given to the subject of financial inclusion to the local payment methods, international companies may accelerate their growth in this potential market.

Learn more about our payment solutions and customized FX banking for the SaaS industry.