We are not Coca-Cola, which can spend 20 million dollars to be everywhere—on TV, radio, YouTube, and news portals—and then just sit back and wait for sales results. The key things we have been developing over the past year are ways to reach users. Innovation isn’t just technological; it can also be the way a product is delivered.

This is the main message from Hrvoje Ćosić, founder and CEO of Croatia’s most successful fintech company. Aircash, a unique digital wallet and app on the European market that allows users to manage their money safely and easily, has, for the third year in a row, been named one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe.

Hrvoje just shrugs at that. He says he’s glad for every recognition, but big numbers are easy to achieve when you’re still young in the market. What matters more to him is making the most of the momentum Aircash has gained in recent years—a trend that’s easy to describe. Five to seven years ago, he was calling big brands and pulling on their sleeves. Now, they’re calling him.

Seven years on the market

Aircash is a mobile app recognizable by its red logo at retail locations throughout Croatia. It’s a digital wallet that can be used like other mobile banking apps, but also for much more—paying for parking or ferries, buying concert tickets, or topping up ENC. The digital wallet can be topped up online or at a wide network of locations such as INA, Tisak, and iNovine stores, among many others.

The company has been present in our market since 2017, when it received a license from the Croatian National Bank. However, the key step for its growth was partnering with major players later on. In 2019, they signed an agreement with PBZ for cash withdrawals at the bank’s ATM network, and launched Aircash Mastercard cards two years later.

This year, Aircash is, for the third time in a row, among the top fastest-growing companies in Central Europe according to the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 list. Today, it has over a million users worldwide.

Attention to detail is crucial

“Overall trust in digital services is growing. We all remember how things were ten years ago. People had to be persuaded to try these services. With the arrival of Uber, Airbnb, and similar companies, this became normal. People now have more trust. And why do they trust us specifically? That’s the key question we need to answer.”

That’s why they invest a lot in marketing, he continues, but thoughtfully. To gain and keep that trust, details are crucial: a flawless website, a good description in App Store listings, a smooth-running app, and error-free ads.

“In our business, where we ask people to deposit and entrust us with their money, trust is the foundation of our relationship. That means we must be very clear in our communication.”

New markets in preparation

Earlier this year, specifically in the summer, Aircash reached a major milestone—over one billion euros in transaction volume. After introducing Google and Apple Pay, Aircash’s card transaction volume doubled. For next year, they have even more ambitious plans. Ćosić explains that horizontal expansion includes as many as seven new markets, while vertical expansion involves developing new services within the app.

They opened a large network of kiosks and gas stations in Slovenia, Austria, and Germany in 2022, with about 50,000 locations where you can buy an Aircash card. Since then, they have focused on new markets such as Cyprus, Greece, and Romania, where they are present at nearly 40,000 locations.

Spain, Italy, and France are the next markets they are entering, aiming for 150 million new active users. While we talk in their headquarters in Zagreb, they are planning visits to these markets, already arranging partners and consultants to help them understand local habits.

Neighboring countries are equally important

“We are a B2C company, and our biggest differentiation between markets comes from people and their habits. There are various ways we reach our users, and we first learned this in Croatia. In every new market, we start with one consultant and then expand the team with people who understand how locals live, how they relax after work, where they travel, how they spend holidays, what sports they like, which TV channels they watch, and whether they use streaming services.”

Besides Western European markets, neighboring countries will also be key next year. Under the name ‘Adria Region,’ Aircash has already opened offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania, and started the licensing process with regulators. Ćosić is optimistic, saying that business will start in at least two of these four countries by next summer.

To grow their user base, partnerships with brands like Glovo, Wolt, and others who use Aircash infrastructure for daily business are also important. There is also the growing integration of Aircash as a payment method on many webshops.

New services coming soon

While we reviewed plans for the coming year, in the next room, key team leaders were deciding which new services are a priority and on what timeline they should be implemented. They meet like this once a month, he explains, and everyone must fight for what matters to them.

There will be plenty of new services next year. In Croatia, naturally, they have the most services in the app. He points out that this is their home market and that they will always maintain a special relationship with users here. However, he emphasizes that they must also focus on other markets and discover what users in other countries would value most in their ‘super-app’ for payments and daily life.

It’s easy to start with basics like parking, transport, and utilities, but Aircash’s key to success lies in discovering users’ daily habits, which has built trust from the beginning. For many Europeans, using different investment services has become part of daily life, and Aircash intends to follow that trend.

They are currently working on a trading platform for stocks, which Ćosić expects users will be able to access next year. They are also in talks with partners about launching crypto trading within the app. What’s certain is that by the end of the first quarter next year, the marketplace will be completely redesigned, because, as Ćosić emphasizes, Aircash is more than just payments.

Growth is necessary

“Tech companies have to grow to continuously provide challenges for the people who work here. If people don’t have challenges, they get bored. So, maintaining the status quo is impossible. Otherwise, they’ll say, ‘Okay, I’m not interested anymore, I’m not developing, I’m moving on.’ Growth is an axiom.” ... But can users handle it, or is there a point where it becomes too much for them? Do we really want to manage everything from one app? Ćosić believes the answer depends entirely on how well they do their job. In other words, how easy Aircash is to use. In the long run, this means that service personalization via the Aircash app is inevitable.

“Just as every country has its own communication rules and delivery channels, each user will have their own channels, and we’ll deliver content they want. That’s where artificial intelligence comes in, recommending services tailored to their needs, considering location, time, and habits.”

A new era for Aircash

Aircash now has over 100 employees, with serious international names joining top management in recent years. The company is going through an exciting but challenging period of significant growth, where it’s crucial to pay attention to culture and processes.

They are also preparing for a major app upgrade, which will be announced in the first half of next year as a new phase for Aircash. Ćosić believes this phase will better describe the path he and his team are on—that Aircash is your friend, your solution for every problem, one app for everything you can imagine.

Source: Telegram.hr