How Addi scales its BNPL Model in Latin America with Twilio
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Challenge
One of the biggest challenges of any company, from its inception, is to grow well. It must expand its operations over time without breaking what matters most: its value proposition and quality standards.
Addi was created in Colombia based on a new, flexible, and convenient loan model compared with traditional offerings. For Addi, communication with users was a crucial issue.
Solution
That’s where Twilio becomes foundational. More than a provider, it is the layer that makes it possible to scale up the relationship with millions of users without losing consistency.
- Exponential Customer Scalability: Addi multiplied its user base eightfold in just four years, growing from 500,000 customers in 2022 to four million in June 2026 (with a projection to exceed 5 million by the end of the year), supported by a robust communication infrastructure.
- Mass Engagement on WhatsApp: The platform successfully processes 30 million WhatsApp messages per month through Twilio. Noteworthy among this traffic are 13 million utility messages, 6 million security authentications, and 5 million customer service conversations, which consolidate this channel as the central hub of its transactional and support experience.
- High-Impact Omnichannel at Scale: To ensure full coverage throughout the user lifecycle, on a monthly basis, the operation manages 15 million emails, 2 million SMS messages for marketing and notifications, and 2 million voice minutes strategically dedicated to collections management.
Big alliances make big players: Addi’s decision to choose Twilio
Today, Addi has a presence in more than 1,030 municipalities, with nearly 3 million users, and more than 39 thousand business alliances. In 2026, it is one of the 12 Latin American startups with the greatest unicorn potential, according to a recent study. Behind that growth lies a clear technical decision: to build upon a communication infrastructure capable of responding to the pace of the business.
Everything starts somewhere
In 2018, Santiago Suárez, Daniel Vallejo, and Elmer Ortega brought Addi to life as an initiative to facilitate access to credit through the BNPL model (buy now, pay later). The goal was to reach those people left out by traditional banking, with a faster and simpler way to finance purchases.
The model achieved adaptability to different user profiles. This ranged from people with no credit history to users with greater purchasing power looking for flexibility in higher-value purchases. That growth also required efficient, timely, and trusted communication at every point in the process.
That’s where Twilio came in.
From its inception, Addi chose to build its operation upon a robust customer engagement platform. This was not a minor decision. In a business where every customer engagement impacts conversion, risk, and experience, the reliability of the communication channel is critical.
"At Addi, we are convinced that in order to grow, we must work with partners who not only share our vision, but also help us expand it. That’s why we chose Twilio. It was foundational to have the experience to assemble one of the most critical components: user communication."
In addition to ensuring operational reliability, the platform also gave Addi the ability to scale quickly. Carlos Toro, Addi’s CTO, notes that Twilio facilitated onboarding and became a key ally during the company’s expansion. “Twilio has been a major ally. “When you work with suppliers directly, there’s a wide range of integrations, and working with Twilio made all the difference,” he states.
Their support has also been crucial in terms of product development and the digital experience. Twilio has been with Addi from its early stages on the web through its consolidation as an app. During that process, it has enabled passwordless authentication systems that allow users to log in via biometrics, mobile codes, secure links, or digital keys. This not only enhances the experience, but also reduces friction and strengthens security.
Today, this role is even more visible at critical business junctures. Sending paylinks, for example, accounts for a significant part of the operation. Delivery speed, traceability, and the ability to integrate with other systems are not a differentiator; they are a requirement. Twilio facilitates real-time occurrence of that communication with top-tier availability.
The same applies to loan origination and collections management. Addi integrates multiple channels such as email, WhatsApp, SMS, and calls within the same operational logic, and are even present on the marketing side. The Twilio platform makes that orchestration possible without sacrificing continuity in the user experience.
"Twilio is our communications partner, the hub for all our transactional flows. By supporting our operation with its integrations of WhatsApp, SMS services, and the SendGrid email platform, Twilio allows us to ensure smooth and exceptional customer experience in every engagement.”"
Beyond these processes, the platform’s customer service role is a highlight, with digital support peration and assistance experience. WhatsApp, in fact, is the only service channel the company uses throughout its operations, requiring high levels of continuity, availability, and responsiveness at scale.
It plays more than just a support role; it is a platform that facilitates growth.
A grand vision for the future
In mid-2026, Addi is moving forward with its plan to become a finance company. The focus is no longer only lending money; it is shifting toward building long-term user relationships.
In that scenario, communication is once again centered. The capacity to understand, support, and respond in each engagement will be decisive. Twilio will continue to play a strategic role that is foundational to that relationship.
Regarding this new challenge, communications traceability and auditing play a foundational role, which are aspects where Twilio offers security and trust due to the default functionalities used by the platform in its applications. “This is relatively important in an unregulated world, but in a regulated world it is of the utmost value,” he says.
At the same time, the company is striving to develop its app and strengthen its marketplace. The goal is to transform the e-commerce experience in the country, with a more integrated and competitive offering.
Scaling a financial business in Latin America involves solving technical, operational, and trust-related complexities. In this process, having a robust communication platform is not just an add-on. It is part of the product.
