We are Part of this Solution; Come TRAMPAY with Us

We talked to Jorge Júnior on how Trampay works as a platform for benefits at work.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?  

Jorge Júnior: Seven people are living with me. We’ve managed to live harmoniously despite the turbulence, and our house has become a sort of a coworking space. We were able to support each other and keep ourselves safe and healthy during all this time.   

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Trampay.

Jorge Júnior: I’m the founder of Trampay. I was born in Recife, in the northeast of Brazil, in a very poor region. As a child, my family moved to the capital, Brasília, looking for new opportunities. Here I was able to develop and improve my personal and economic situation. I studied in a Military school during my high school and graduated in Advertising at the Federal University of Brasilia. I have always said to my mother that I would have my own business. Not only to help us but also to make a difference in other people’s lives. Trampay was my final year project dissertation and is the result of hard work and dreams.

In order to start this project, first, I had to understand more about the startup ecosystem. During this time, I learned that the project I created had synergy with the startup business model. Not only that but also Brazil’s social context, in which 60% of the Brazilian population (112,4 million people) lives with less than R$22 per day (about $4). This is the context in which I was born, and since we can’t change or improve their income, we can at least optimize their spending power.  

How does Trampay innovate?  

Jorge Júnior: Our name is an injunction, in Portuguese Trampo is slang for work, and pay is the literal meaning in English. But in a context of you reap what you sow. Our company combines the financial and social context of Brazil and allies technology in the way of opportunity.  

Trampay is a benefits platform at work that offers specific credit lines, discount partnerships with stores, and cashback as a way to give our members access to products and services differently. There are more than 300 suppliers that integrate our user base, offering services and products at affordable prices and increasing the income of families. In this way, we encourage consumption, gratification at work, contain inflation, rotate the local economy, optimize people’s income, but above all. We start from a social premise in giving back access to things, to people.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping? 

Jorge Júnior: The pandemic has proved, with humbleness, that our solution is necessary. At this moment, we’re able to bring medical assistance to people in a cheaper way. We also went through a financial crisis at this time, and more than ever, we can be parallel support to the government by helping the population and bringing private initiative. Some of our partners, who expose their products on our platform, have not survived the crisis. But those who did remain have increased their customer base.  

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?  

Jorge Júnior: The hard choices were linked to the beginning of the solution. When we started, there was no digital wallet and transactions through the platform yet.  

It was also necessary to prove to the entrepreneurs how much the investment in their team is essential. Since we are a B2B2C solution, we sell the software to entrepreneurs to share with all their employees. Adapting this speech took a long time, but now, even with the pandemic, they realize that they can only go ahead when the whole team works together.  

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? How do you project yourself and Trampay in the future?

Jorge Júnior: We are human. The butterflies in our stomachs and the cold sweat are inevitable. The wish to have a solution in people’s hands requires many previous validations. Nothing like a year of a pandemic to realize that, despite the speed, it takes time and respect that has been a learning process. In particular, I have a conviction that when you work hard, with everything that could be done at that moment, there will always be a reward.  

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?  

Jorge Júnior: Currently, we have two competitors with more time in the market. However, they do not have the same target public as Trampay. Our product is born in the most unequal country in the world, and the purpose goes ahead of the company. This gives us a perspective of the future and continuity.

Your final thoughts?

Jorge Júnior: Trampay is a social impact fintech that unites economic sustainability and opportunity for workers.  

We want to talk about the difference we make in people’s lives so we can Tram-Pay for them.

Your website?

https://trampay.com