REPORT
🤑 Brazil continues to top FinTech investment in Latin America.
📉 Latin American FinTech deal activity reached 35 deals in Q3 2023, a 69% drop YoY;
💰 Latin American FinTech companies raised a combined $186m in the third quarter, a 66% drop from Q3 2023.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Galileo, a Mastercard Engage partner, is now providing services in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Perú and Uruguay that enable issuers, financial institutions and fintechs to offer issuer processing services (including virtual and physical credit, debit and prepaid cards).
📰 ARTICLE
In a pioneering move that echoes the operational philosophy of China's WeChat, Telegram, a widely-used messaging app boasting 800 million active users, is on the brink of metamorphosing into a decentralized super app.
In a major step towards ensuring robust security and transparency in identity verification processes, Brazil has initiated the use of blockchain technology for issuing its National Identity Card (Carteira de Identidade Nacional - CIN). Implemented by Serpro, this innovative approach encompasses the new version of the Shared Registry of the Federal Revenue, facilitating secure data sharing between the Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB) and Civil Identification Bodies (OICs).
💬 INTERVIEW
Spotting an underutilized asset, akin to what Google did with public information, Madeira shapes a transformation, steering Neon towards a technological overhaul, placing data at the forefront, not as a cost, but an opportunity-laden sector.
Read the full interview here.
When David Vélez first dreamed up the idea for Nubank, he knew he wanted it to be the opposite of when he opened his first bank account in Brazil. The tedious process included long waits at a heavily guarded branch, to which he had to return several times.
Read the full interview here.
🧐 ANALYSIS
According to the most recent data, two notable players, BBVA en México and Nubank, have emerged as leaders in the sector, each showcasing impressive trajectories in their growth patterns.
BBVA blazes the trail as the bank with the most substantial expansion, while Nubank is not far behind (3 Million Credit Card signups in only 3 years!), swiftly scaling within the market.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
☕️ REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Kushki emerged as Latin America’s first non-banking regional acquirer.
⭐️ BTG acquires Órama to expand retail sector presence.
⭐️ Niky partners with Mastercard to launch a new product.
⭐️ ApproPay launches operations in Colombia in collaboration with Google.
BRAZIL
Roberto Campos Neto, the President of the Central Bank of Brazil, reported, that Pix, the instant payment system, has set a new record with 168 million transactions in a single day.
Stone.Co undertakes a major management restructuring with an aim to metamorphose into a "big tech" by intensifying its integration with Linx.
ARGENTINA
Tapi and Lemon form a strategic alliance, ushering in a new era of financial transactions in Argentina, where users can seamlessly pay bills using either pesos or cryptocurrencies.
COLOMBIA
Cobre has developed a pioneering corporate treasury platform designed to empower financial directors in Colombia by offering them enhanced visibility and control over their company’s financial transactions raised 13M USD.
Galgo has made pivotal strides in 2023, including the acquisition of the Colombian fintech Crediorbe and successfully raising US$40.8 million in what became the year’s largest local capital round.
TerraPay and Bancolombia, Colombia’s largest player of remittances announced the signing of their contract.
Belvo introduces two innovative products in Colombia, designed to facilitate companies in executing recurring charges via automatic debit to any bank account or wallet, and also to carry out payouts to any designated account.
Gilinski Group has officially launched Lulo X. Founded by Jaime Gilinski and his son Benjamin Gilinski, the business group has initiated the new project’s beta phase.
MEXICO
Uellbee introduces "Energiza tu Buró", a solution designed to assist Mexicans in enhancing their credit histories, which is pivotal for achieving dreams like home ownership.
CHILE
Khipu and BancoEstado have entered a pivotal agreement in the realm of open banking, marking a milestone in the financial industry and signaling harmonization between technology companies and financial institutions in Chile.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.