Unlocking Financial Freedom for Every Dominican

A Personal Calling, Not Just a Startup

I have spent two decades building technology products on three continents, from payment rails in Eastern Europe to BNPL in North America. Yet no project has ever felt as personal - or as urgent - as NICO. Why? Because the Dominican Republic, a country that has captured my heart, stands at an inflection point. GDP has grown faster than most of Latin America, tourism is booming, and remittances exceed US $10 billion each year. But prosperity is unevenly distributed: nearly half of adults, and 51 % of women, still lack a formal bank account . Without access to affordable credit or safe savings, millions are locked out of the very growth story they help create.

I believe that if we can change the way money moves in the DR - if we can replace high fees, red tape, and opaque lending with free digital accounts, fair micro-loans, and practical financial education - we can accelerate the country’s journey toward shared prosperity. That is why NICO exists, and why I wake up every morning determined to get this right.

From Vision to Action: Three Core Pillars

1. Financial Inclusion as a Human Right

At NICO, we do not see “unbanked” as a market segment; we see people - mothers who juggle multiple side hustles, moto-taxi drivers saving to fix a clutch, students dreaming of university. Every Dominican deserves a safe place to store money, make payments, and build credit. Our first product therefore starts with the simplest promise: a fee-free mobile account that can be opened in under five minutes with the new biometric e-Cédula. No minimum balance, no paperwork gymnastic - just a smartphone, an ID, and a smile.

2. Fair Credit That Builds, Not Breaks

Cash lenders in informal markets routinely charge triple-digit APRs. That is exploitation, not credit. We are introducing micro-loans with transparent pricing, responsible debt-burden caps (≤ 35 % income), and AI underwriting that looks past collateral to real-life cash-flow patterns. If a borrower’s first loan is repaid on time, limits grow gradually; if not, we step in with financial coaching instead of penalties.

3. Education as the Multiplier

Knowledge is the ultimate compound interest. Our app will embed bite-sized video courses and gamified challenges—how to set up an emergency fund, read a loan amortization table, or negotiate a supplier discount. Completing a learning module unlocks higher savings APY or lower loan fees, turning curiosity into immediate reward.

ESG by Design, Not by Department

Long before investors asked for ESG scorecards, we wrote it into our architecture:

• Environmental — 100 % of our workloads live on Google Cloud’s 24/7 carbon-free energy infrastructure, shrinking Scope-2 emissions by up to 90 % versus a legacy on-prem bank.

• Social — We target a minimum 50 % female user base and bundle cervical-cancer micro-insurance with every “NICO Mujer” account, inspired by the success of Banco BHD León’s Mujer Mujer program .

• Governance — An independent board oversees dedicated ESG and Risk committees, while our AI models undergo third-party fairness audits from day one.

In short, ESG is not a marketing veneer; it is the operating system that keeps us accountable.

Why the Dominican Republic, and Why Now?

The timing could not be better:

• Biometric e-ID rollout unlocks instant digital KYC.

• Fintech sandbox approval (June 2025) from the Superintendencia de Bancos gives us a 24-month controlled-launch runway.

• Remittance corridors are ripe for disruption; shaving a single percentage point off fees can keep tens of millions of dollars in Dominican households each year.

• Mobile-internet penetration sits near 90 %, meaning the hardware hurdle is largely solved.

When enabling rails, regulatory openness, and unmet need intersect, transformation accelerates. That is the window we intend to seize.

A Call to Co-Create

Building a fairer financial system is not a solo act. It requires regulators who champion innovation, investors who prize impact alongside returns, technologists who center ethics, and customers who challenge us to be better every release.

To policymakers: Partner with us on G2P disbursements and digital ID adoption.

To educators and NGOs: Let’s localize curriculum in Haitian Kreyòl and rural dialects so no one is left behind.

To the Dominican diaspora: Bring your remittances home through a platform designed to keep more of your sacrifice in your family’s hands.

And to every prospective user: Hold us to our promises. Demand clarity, fairness, and humanity from your bank—because that is exactly what we aim to deliver.

The World I Want to Leave Behind

I often think about my child asking me, one day, what I did to make the world fairer. I want to tell them I helped unlock the dreams of people who were told “banking isn’t for you.” That I showed that profitability and purpose are not rivals but partners. That I stood with a nation I love and bet on its people’s unlimited potential.

NICO is more than an app; it is my answer to that future question. If we succeed, a moto-taxi driver’s repair fund, a single mother’s emergency savings, and a student’s tuition dream will no longer hang on the whims of cash lenders or hidden fees. They will rest on their phones, in their hands, under their control.

This is the journey we are on.
I invite you—investors, partners, and everyday Dominicans - to walk it with us.
Con todo mi corazón y compromiso,