OMNi’s super app has innovated Costa Rica in order to solve a number of basic needs of consumers in one place, a single application, with ease of handling and immediate response times. The company has evolved since first launching as a bike-sharing service and is now a go-to solution that continues to add new options. Jason Simon, a FinTech and eCommerce expert, discusses how OMNi’s super app is changing the consumer landscape in Costa Rica and how it will drive commerce growth for years to come.
The super app is a single application that integrates many services, allowing users to avoid having to download many different applications on their phone to be able to access, for example, mobility, banking or a range of services that are useful for everyday life. Explains Simon, “OMNi’s super app offers its users to solve mobility issues such as taxi or bike travel, lifestyle, a neo-ban to manage finances and a virtual wallet. It partners with other companies to bring their operations to the digital space and, from there, it’s just a matter of leveraging the relationships within its platform and incorporating them into the super app. Ultimately, the company expects to be present in about 20 to 25 different verticals.”
OMNi came to Costa Rica to not stop innovating and make the lives of its users easier. The super app is available in the App Store or the Google Play Store as a free download, and has already found a hugely successful response. When it was initially launched, there were as many as 100,000 downloads in a single week and that was with no substantial marketing investment. As it has added new verticals, setting up a neobank, a payments solution and others, the appeal has continued to grow.
OMNi stated, “The digitalization of the economy is the key to allowing the small business commercial sector to compete with great global powers. As a result of the pandemic and the contraction suffered by the sector in its sales, as well as the need for an immediate adaptation to new payment methods, we launched payment in shops through QR codes.”
Adds Simon, “OMNi is doing what no other company has been able to do, give consumers a single solution to handle a lot of their everyday needs. The concept is simple and in demand, which is why OMNi has seen the success it has already witnessed. As new features are added, the super app will be the primary alternative for consumers in Costa Rica for them to manage a great deal of the activity that they previously would have needed several different solutions to manage.”
OMNi highlighted its B2B platform, where each business can join the service on its own. The company has designed a communication plan to activate the use of part of its community of more than one million users and currently has more than 1,000 merchants that offer this payment method, with more coming online daily.