A Brazilian who runs a UAE-based fintech

by James · May 15, 2023

SÃ£o Paulo – born in Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Goes (pictured above) holds a degree in military science from Agulhas Negras and has distinguished himself in the United Arab Emirates as CEO of LYOPAY since June 2021. The digital payment platform offers over 30 services including international transfers, virtual cards, digital wallets and cryptocurrencies. In Dubai alone, the company has 400 employees.

The Rio-born 39-year-old has an MBA in public management and says he got ahead of the competition in the application process to fintech based in Dubai, UAE, to be a Brazilian. â€œNot many people realize that Brazil is a benchmark in the global banking system. Our identity goes beyond football and bossa nova to include disruptive things like barcodes – which we helped create – open banking, central banking outsourcing and pix, which are innovating around the world.â€

GÃ³es: Experience from the financial market

Beyond his nationality, other qualities led him to be chosen by fintech, such as experience and networking. While serving as a military officer in Brazil, GÃ³es had experience in the financial and commercial markets, until he got an investment consulting job at the Bolton Group, an Italian conglomerate. From January 2018 to March 2019, he worked at the company’s headquarters on the 43rd.^rd floor of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Despite only working at the company for a year, his presence was so remarkable that a colleague suggested him for the position of CEO at LYOPAY in 2021. â€œ(Getting hired) was a pleasant surprise as there were many people with resumes that were even more specific than mine. But LIOPAY wanted someone who had a close relationship with the community and was a good communicator.â€

During his career in the financial market, GÃ³es also served as a cryptocurrency business development consultant at Altcoin Lab, established his own company – asset tokenization platform LGBank – and worked as a digital advisor at the private office of Sheikh Hamdan bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.

Regarding his tenure in Dubai, the CEO highlighted the growth of the bitcoin market. The cryptocurrency now has its own department, which categorized it as a commodity. He also saw the establishment of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMMC), the UAE’s leading free trade zone, where such companies can be established, and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), a cryptocurrency regulator.

Presence in Arab countries and Brazil

LYOPAY was created by UK-based DIGILYO APP LTD and serves over 10 million customers in 82 countries across five continents. The fintech ecosystem includes 10 products that offer over 30 services. For example, LYOSWAP BOT is a Telegram bot for buying and selling cryptocurrency, while LYOTRAVEL is a travel platform for buying airline tickets with bitcoin and altcoins.

Brazilian speaking on behalf of LYOPAY

Depending on the applicable laws of the country and the habits of the local population, one or the other service may be preferred and be more prominent. But according to GÃ³es, one of the company’s most outstanding products is the Lyopay Card, a prepaid card that allows you to buy both online and offline in over 150 countries. Of the list of service countries, 12 are Arab nations: Egypt, Morocco, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Algeria and Sudan.