Giving people of Mexico access to solar-powered appliances, a 28-year-old Mexican changed the microfinance scene in the country with his simple notion that even those who do not have a lot of money will pay for what they really need.

Yusef Jacobs launched "Graviti," which is a "buy now, pay later platform" for basic home appliances. It is dedicated to the unbanked sector of the Mexican population.

According to CNBC, Yusef Jacobs shared that what they measure is the customer's need for a certain product because for them, if they truly need it, they will pay for it.

He added that Graviti gives low-income individuals the ability to buy solar hot water heaters, washing machines, refrigerators even if they do not have the money to pay for such an appliance in a lump sum or the ability to get access to credit.

The "buy now, pay later platform" Graviti puts internet-connected meters on the appliances to collect data regarding customer usage. They also can turn off the appliances remotely if the customer falls behind on their payment.

Jacobs noted that what traditional microfinance institutions do is if a customer gets behind on their payments, they charge late fees. 

In the country of Mexico, they go over 100 annual percent interest rates, which is for Jacobs is crazy, and that over-indebts the customer and piles up the debt.

But for Graviti, the platform gradually reduces the functionality of the appliances if customers do not pay. Jacobs said that if customers get behind on their payments for a week or two, the control meters on the appliances will enable them to do a controlled flow of hot water from the water or do a limited amount of liters per day. And If they will keep getting behind on their payments, Graviti will shut down the flow of water completely.

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Yusef Jacobs on Graviti

Yusef Jacobs, who is from the city of Mexico and has lived there his whole life, launched Graviti at the end of 2019 with solar hot water heaters.

Jacobs noted that once they acquire the customer, they do the underwriting of the credit, and they approve the credit. Then they basically connect the customer and the credit with the distributor that holds the product, and the distributor goes and installs the product. Then they pay the distributors for the product upfront, and then they do the payment collection of the credit from the customers.

Furthermore, solar-powered water heaters are a more climate-friendly option than the liquefied petroleum gas that most people previously used. The "buy now, pay later" platform has since added other energy-efficient appliances and aims to extend their helping hands in countries within Latin America in the future, Impact Alpha reported.

There's a lot of demand in Mexico as the World Bank has data that shows only 37 percent of Mexican adults have bank accounts. It is the reason why Jacobs is pushing for a better future for the unbanked families in his country.

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