Understanding Fiado: Informal Credit in Brazil

This paper will explore insights gathered from fieldwork activities in the Northeast Brazil to design a financial application to facilitate access to credit. We observed the everyday financial practices of small merchants, their social physical networks and mechanisms to promote trust in those communities. We observed a particular kind of transaction that was common amongst our participants - called Fiado. Fiado transactions are a store credit practice in which merchants sell products to a customer based on trust that the customer will pay for it in the future. The Financial app aims to assist small merchants to manage their Fiado and their business.