Rafa Plantier exits Nubank for telecoms-as-a-service platform Gigs

Rafa Plantier, who left Open Banking platform Tink to join Brazilian digital bank Nubank early in 2022, has turned up at telecoms-as-a-service platform Gigs.

Plantier has joined San Francisco-based Gigs as head of financial services, having led corporate strategy and new ventures at Nubank.

In his new role, he will advance Gigs’ offering for banks and fintechs and drive the acquisition of customers in the financial sector.

Hermann Frank, who co-founded Gigs with Dennis Bauer in 2020, said: “Since we launched Gigs, we’ve seen a tremendous demand from digital banks wanting to launch their own branded mobile services to unlock new revenue streams, strengthen customer stickiness and differentiate their offering.

“That is why we are delighted to welcome Rafa to Gigs, whose wealth of experience and deep domain knowledge will help us to cater to the needs of the fintech industry even more effectively.”

Rafa Plantier, head of financial services at Gigs

Frank added: “Rafa has successfully steered large teams through complex challenges, led the development of various new financial services across emerging and established markets, and is uniquely equipped to help us drive the convergence of banking and telecommunications at scale.”

Prior to working at Tink, Plantier spent just over four years at Stripe, serving as head of expansion, Latin America and, latterly, as head of banking EMEA.

Gigs is backed by Google, Y Combinator and several business angels and investors, including Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber.

“Analogous to banking, wireless connectivity is among the most-used consumer services worldwide, yet has one of the worst customer satisfaction levels. This disparity calls for urgent innovation,” said Plantier.

“That’s why, after 16 years in fintech and helping Stripe, Tink, and Nubank scale globally, I’m here to support Gigs in harnessing this immense opportunity.

“By enabling any company to launch their own branded, programmable mobile service, Gigs has created a category of its own, making it one of the most exciting high-growth businesses worldwide.”

Gigs, which has more than 50 employees based in the US and Europe, offers payments and analytics features to customers through a unified platform and API.