Hola amig@s fintech,

We already know this: big brands don't need to become banks to offer financial services, and banks don't need branches to reach customers. This week brought three reminders. Banco Plata in Mexico earned its banking license, the latest neobank to formalize in a region that is rapidly redrawing its banking lines. Santander embedded into YPF's app in Argentina and Mastercard deepened its offer for SMEs, showing how incumbents are using third-party platforms to reach customers they can't reach alone. And regulators kept pace, granting licenses in some markets, liquidating institutions in others, and authorizing new players like BiPay in Peru. The map is being redrawn from multiple directions at once.

One more thing before you dive in: starting next week, the Latin America edition of TWIF is moving to Wednesdays. Same content, new day. We figured you deserved your Sundays back.

🩵 See you on Wednesday!

~Vivi

| TWIF Community 

🗓️ Events

 | Mexico Fintech Week 2026: The week is here!

😱 3,000+ Registrations & Counting!

📅 Tomorrow, Feb 23, Mexico City becomes the fintech capital of the world. We are exactly one week away from the insights, the networking, and the tacos.

Here is why you can't miss it:

• THE SPEAKERS ARE HERE: Stop wondering who’s taking the stage. Our speakers are officially confirmed! Get ready to hear directly from the visionary leaders at Revolut, Stripe, BMONI, and many more. The insights are ready; are you? Check out the events!
• Elite Networking: You’ll be in the room with decision-makers from Mastercard, Visa, Banorte, Santander, Ripple, Femsa, and Capital One. This is where the industry’s biggest deals are born.
• Go Beyond Fintech: Our list of events includes not only content-led panels on expanding in Mexico, the latest stablecoin trends, and how innovation shapes the financial world, but also social activities, including morning runs, a curated art night, and a happy hour featuring a fintech stand-up roast.
• A Powerhouse Agenda: 12+ events curated by TWIF and supported by our partners: Rain, VelaFi, REAP, Persona, Bridge, Kulipa, Ripple, Oscilar, Pespay, Utila, Bitrus, Visa, BGBG, Pespay, Puntored, Taktile, Sumsub, etc!

🗣️ Channels

| Post of the Week 

| Podcast of the Week 

| Venture Financing 

💰 Equity

🇲🇽 Kavak, the Mexican online used-car marketplace and auto financing platform, raised $300 million in a Series F equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from WCM Investment Management, Foxhaven Asset Management, Lingotto Innovation, Galdana Ventures, Stelac and Allen & Company LLC.

🇪🇨 Jelou, the Ecuadorian company that enables payments and credit services through WhatsApp, raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Wellington Access Ventures and Krealo with participation from Collide Capital and angel investors. Jelou offers AI-powered, chat-based payment acceptance and checkout solutions for businesses.

💵 Debt 

🇧🇷 99Pay, the payments and embedded credit arm of ride-hailing platform 99, raised $130 million through a structured Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC) coordinated by Bradesco BBI with participation from Bradesco itself.

| Exits 

🏦 M&A - Banks, Insurers & Incumbents

🇦🇷 Visa agreed to acquire Prisma Medios de Pago’s Newpay unit in Argentina, expanding its presence in the country’s payments market. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals.

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇲🇽 Kubo Financiero and Crédito Maestro, two Mexican financial services platforms, agreed to  merge in a deal valued at approximately $35 million combining Kubo’s regulated Sofipo license and digital platform with Crédito Maestro’s capital base. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval.

| Product Launches & Partnerships 

💻 Fintech

🇨🇴 dLocal and Open English integrated Colombia’s Bre-B real-time payment system into the Open English checkout, enabling students to make instant account-to-account payments using digital identifiers or QR codes without requiring credit cards.

🇨🇴 Simple App officially launched in Colombia, introducing a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet that grants users exclusive control over private keys and enabled direct conversion of stablecoins to pesos for payments via a virtual card integrated with major digital wallets.

🇲🇽 Cenit, a Chilean TaxTech startup, expanded into Mexico to offer digital tools aimed at simplifying tax compliance for individuals under the RESICO and Sueldos y Salarios regimes. The platform seeks to automate fiscal management and reporting processes for personal taxpayers.

🇸🇻 Monetae and Ábaco launched a regulated digital financial structure under El Salvador’s Digital Asset Issuance Law (LEAD), introducing the "$ABACO1" corporate debt instrument to designed to channel investment toward companies in Latin America through a digital asset framework.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking 

🇦🇷 Santander Argentina and YPF signed a long-term agreement to add financial services to the YPF App, allowing users to open digital accounts, make transfers and invest balances in Santander money market funds starting in April 2026.

🌎 Mastercard expanded its SME credit card offering in Latin America and the Caribbean, adding integrated cybersecurity services and fraud prevention tools for small businesses.

| Policy 

🇲🇽 Banco Plata received full banking authorization from Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), allowing it to operate as a licensed credit institution. The approval enables the company to expand its digital financial services beyond its existing card-based offering.

🇧🇷 The Central Bank of Brazil ordered the extrajudicial liquidation of Banco Pleno and its securities brokerage, both linked to former Banco Master partner Augusto Ferreira Lima. The decision marks the fifth regulatory intervention involving institutions connected to the Master Group in the past three months.

🇵🇪 The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS) authorized the organization of BiPay, the digital wallet of Viettel Perú (Bitel), as an Electronic Money Issuance Company (EEDE). The approval allows the company to move forward with its formal entry into Peru’s interoperable digital payments market.

🇻🇪 Kontigo, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency exchange platform, secured authorization from SUNACRIP to continue operating in Venezuela through January 8, 2027. The license allows the platform to carry out crypto buying, selling, custody, exchange and related services.

| Other News 

🇨🇱 Global66 said it is evaluating plans to pursue an international banking license in 2026 to support cross-border expansion while consolidating its position in Colombia, which the company identified as its fastest-growing market with 214% annual transaction growth.

🇵🇪 Khipu, the Peruvian expense management startup, outlined its 2026 expansion plans, targeting 250 corporate clients and entry into Chile and Colombia. The company focuses on automating expense reporting for mid- and large-sized enterprises seeking to reduce inefficiencies from manual processes.

| Deeper Reads  

Mexican SMEs cannot join nearshoring due to financial hurdles and money laundering risks (ES)

The article examines how anti-money laundering controls, limited access to credit and low levels of formalization are preventing small and mid-sized Mexican businesses from integrating into nearshoring supply chains, despite strong industrial momentum. It explores how compliance burdens and financing gaps are creating structural barriers for SMEs seeking to participate in export-driven growth.

Made in LatAm with 🩵by 

Elena, Head of New Technologies at Afirme Financial Group

Carlos, ESG Analyst at CFECapital

Vivi, Communication expert and Principal at Areté Consulting

Feedback?  Reach out to us anytime! This week it’s Elena on read, post, and podcast of the week, funding, exists, other news and deeper reads, Carlos on policy, and product launches and partnerships, and Vivi on editing.

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Come meet us in person at www.thisweekinfintech.com/events. You can also join our global community on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.