Case studies · Fintech · Microlending

+Tendero: a weekly microlending core banking system for 600+ shopkeepers

In 12 months, DataLab built the core banking system for +Tendero, a Colombian fintech that offers short-term loans to corner-store owners. The system runs weekly-cycle microloans designed around how neighborhood stores actually operate, and has served 600+ shopkeepers and issued more than COP 3 billion in loans.

Neighborhood corner store with a metal shutter behind shelves of jars, boxes and fruit on the counter: +Tendero microlending core banking case study — **+Tendero** · Colombia

600+shopkeepers served

COP 3B+in loans issued

Figures reported by DataLab and the client for the period shown.

Client: +Tendero
Industry: Fintech · Microlending
Country: Colombia
Duration: 12 months

Product discovery Custom software

Context

+Tendero is a short-term lending fintech for tenderos, the owners of Colombia's neighborhood corner stores. Its product is a microloan that follows the real rhythm of the store: weekly cycles, small amounts and a large number of borrowers. For that model to work, the technology has to move as fast as the checkout counter.

The challenge for +Tendero

A traditional core banking system is built for loans measured in months or years, not for a weekly cycle with small amounts and high borrower volume. An off-the-shelf core would have meant bending the business to fit the software, with manual workarounds for everything the tool couldn't do. +Tendero needed the opposite: software that starts from its model.

The hypothesis

If the core is built around the weekly cycle (disbursement, collection and a new loan), the fintech can serve hundreds of shopkeepers with small loans without growing its operations team as fast as its portfolio.

What we did

Started with ideation of the platform and its business model alongside +Tendero's team.
Modeled the weekly microloan cycle with +Tendero's team: application, disbursement, collection and a new loan.
Built the custom microlending core banking system with short-term lending rules at its center.
Worked in Scrum for 12 months from our nearshore team in Bogotá, reviewing each sprint's release with the business at the end of every cycle.
Added traceability per shopkeeper and per loan to follow the portfolio week by week.
Measured shopkeepers served and amount issued as the two metrics that show whether the model scales.

Results for +Tendero

Within 12 months, the platform reached 600+ shopkeepers and issued more than COP 3 billion in loans. The weekly cycle, which would have been the exception in a generic core, is the rule on this platform.

Stack and tools

Custom microlending core banking
Weekly loan cycle
Disbursement and collections
Portfolio management
Scrum sprints

What we learned

The financial product sets the rules, not the software. When the core respects the customer's real rhythm, in this case one week, small-ticket lending becomes a business that can grow.

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