QI Tech, the São Paulo-based financial infrastructure unicorn, has formed a strategic partnership with Bettr, the embedded-finance arm of Ant International, to roll out credit products for small businesses and consumers operating within Brazil’s digital commerce market. The tie-up was announced on 26 June 2026.
In its opening phase, the partnership has two distinct products. The first is a working capital facility for small and medium-sized e-commerce sellers, designed to let merchants expand inventory and fund operational growth without leaving their platform environment. The second is a buy now, pay later option offered at the point of checkout to consumers shopping on AliExpress, Alibaba Group‘s cross-border marketplace. Both products use automated underwriting driven by transactional data and real-time risk models, a standard approach in embedded lending that aims to keep approval processes invisible to the end user.
Infrastructure and regulatory footing
QI Tech brings a meaningful regulatory credential to the arrangement. It holds a Direct Credit Society licence (SCD) granted by the Banco Central do Brasil, the first company to receive one, and a Securities Broker/Dealer authorisation from the CVM, Brazil’s capital markets regulator. It was also named by ANBIMA in 2025 as the largest administrator and custodian of FIDCs (Credit Rights Investment Funds) in the country, a vehicle that is central to how consumer and SME credit receivables are structured and funded in Brazil. Pedro Mac Dowell, chief executive and founder of QI Tech, said the partnership would cover the full credit lifecycle from onboarding and analysis through to FIDC structuring.
That combination of a regulated lending licence and a dedicated FIDC capability is commercially significant. Embedded BNPL and working capital products need a regulated origination vehicle and a funded warehouse to scale; QI Tech provides both, while Bettr contributes Ant International’s cross-border technology stack and its existing commercial relationship with AliExpress merchants.
Market context
Brazil has become one of the most active emerging markets for embedded credit. The Central Bank’s open finance framework, PIX’s real-time payments infrastructure, and a large underbanked SME population have together attracted a wave of BNPL, revenue-based financing and embedded-lending players. According to market analysis by Mordor Intelligence cited in the announcement, Brazil’s e-commerce market is valued at approximately 69 billion dollars in 2026 and is projected to reach around 151 billion dollars by 2031, a trajectory that increases the volume of credit decisions flowing through marketplace checkout flows.
Quan Yu, general manager of Bettr Credit and senior vice president of Ant International, said the partnership was intended to extend more flexible consumer credit access while building a more resilient supply chain for merchants. The emphasis on local collaboration is consistent with how global payment and fintech groups have approached Brazil: regulatory complexity and the distinctive structure of the Brazilian credit market have generally rewarded those who partner with incumbents rather than attempt to build independently.
QI Tech received backing from GIC, General Atlantic and Across Capital, and has been recognised as Latin America’s only unicorn in the financial infrastructure segment since 2024. The near-term milestones to watch are the scale of FIDC issuance underpinning the working capital programme, the stated approval rate and average loan size for SME borrowers, and whether the BNPL offering extends beyond AliExpress to other marketplace platforms in the Ant International network or to third-party e-commerce operators.