Hola amig@s fintech,

Today is World Braille Day. Braille is a tactile reading system built on just six raised dots. By changing their combinations, the dots can represent letters, numbers, punctuation, and even musical and mathematical symbols. The system was created in 1821 by Louis Braille, who developed it at just 15 years old after losing his sight. Nearly two centuries later, it remains the foundation of literacy for millions of blind and visually impaired people around the world.

This week’s edition brings together signals from across the region, from how fast payment systems are actually being used to how regulators are tightening oversight. We look at new data from Mexico, shifts in digital banking, and policy updates shaping fintech, stablecoins, and crypto infrastructure across Latin America.

🩵We will see you back here next week! (⠺⠑ ⠺⠊⠇⠇ ⠎⠑⠑ ⠽⠕⠥ ⠃⠁⠉⠅ ⠓⠑⠗⠑ ⠝⠑⠭⠞ ⠺⠑⠑⠅⠖)

~Vivi

Feedback?  Reach out to us anytime! This week it’s Vivi on both content and editing.

| TWIF Community 

🗓️ Events

🗣️ Channels

| Stat of the Week

Fast Payment System (FPS) transactions per adult, by country, 20147-2024

Source:  World Bank. 2025. Driving Digital Transformation and Inclusion: Fast Payments in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

|  Read of the Week 

The report “Driving Digital Transformation and Inclusion: Fast Payments in Latin America and the Caribbean” from the World Bank looks at how fast payment systems are reshaping digital finance across Latin America and the Caribbean. Drawing on original data from 11 central banks with live fast payment rails, it examines transaction trends alongside system design and governance models. The report pairs this cross-country evidence with insights from policy and operator engagements, offering early, region-specific takeaways for regulators and ecosystem builders.

| Podcast of the Week 

| Venture Financing 

💰 Equity

🇲🇽 Leona Health, the Mexico-based healthtech startup, raised a US$14 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company builds software that helps doctors in Latin America manage patient communications, including high volumes of WhatsApp messages. The round also included participation from General Catalyst, Accel, and angel investors.

🇧🇷 Guarda, the Brazilian parametric climate insurance startup, raised R$4.5 million (US$806k) in a pre-seed round to scale its digital coverage for extreme weather risks in agriculture. It uses satellite-measured climate indexes instead of on-site inspections, and targets payouts in up to 30 days.

💵 Debt 

🇨🇴 Clara, the Colombian corporate expense management platform, secured a US$36 million credit facility from BBVA Spark, BBVA’s banking unit focused on high-growth companies. The financing will support Clara’s regional expansion and product development across Latin America.

| Exits 

🇲🇽 Banorte received approval from Mexico’s competition authority to sell Bineo to Klar. The transaction clears a key regulatory hurdle for Klar’s acquisition of Banorte’s digital banking unit, marking Banorte’s exit from the standalone neobank model while strengthening Klar’s position in Mexico’s digital financial services market. 

🇵🇾 Bitfarms, the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining company, exited Latin America after selling its 70 MW Paso Pe site in Paraguay for up to $30 million. The deal includes $9 million paid upfront and up to $21 million tied to milestones. Bitfarms said it will redirect capital toward North American energy infrastructure to support high-performance computing and AI workloads.

| Product Launches & Partnerships 

🌍 Tether announced investment in Sqril, a startup launching a real-time, cross-border QR code payment switch designed to enable scan-to-pay interoperability across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The platform aims to connect domestic QR schemes across markets, allowing users and merchants to transact instantly across borders using local payment rails, with settlement supported by stablecoins. 

🇨🇴 Rappi added voice message ordering via WhatsApp, allowing users to place delivery requests by sending audio notes. The feature aims to simplify ordering and improve accessibility, and Rappi plans to expand it across markets in 2026 as part of its conversational commerce push.

🇧🇴 Meru, a global digital wallet, entered the Bolivian market offering payments and transfers using stablecoins. The company says the launch targets users and merchants looking for cross-border and digital payment options in a market with limited access to international financial services.

| Policy 

🇦🇷 Argentina’s tax authority (ARCA) ruled that virtual wallets will be subject to the country’s financial transactions tax (the impuesto al cheque). The measure extends a levy traditionally applied to bank accounts to digital wallets and payment accounts, raising concerns among fintechs about higher costs and potential impacts on usage and financial inclusion.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s new tax law will increase the tax burden on fintechs and online betting companies starting in 2026. The legislation raises rates on financial transactions and digital services as part of a broader tax reform, with fintech firms expected to face higher operational costs once the changes take effect.  

🌎 Global crypto tax transparency is entering a new phase with the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) set to enable automatic cross-border data sharing from 2027. The framework will require crypto service providers to collect and report detailed user and transaction data, with several Latin American countries expected to participate as part of broader efforts to curb tax evasion and align with international standards. For the region, CARF could significantly increase regulatory scrutiny of exchanges and wallets operating across borders, especially in markets with high crypto adoption.

🇲🇽 Experts warn that growing adoption of artificial intelligence across Mexico’s fintech sector is outpacing the current regulatory framework. Industry voices cited in the article argue that existing rules were not designed for AI-driven credit scoring, fraud detection, or automated decision-making, and call on regulators to update supervision models to address transparency, risk, and consumer protection.

🇲🇽 According to Mexico’s banking regulator (CNBV), since the Fintech Law came into force in 2018, authorities have approved 89 of the 139 requests reviewed to date. In total, the inter-institutional committee overseeing the process has received 198 applications. Of these, 134 are from Electronic Payment Funds Institutions (IFPE), 55 from Crowdfunding Institutions (IFC), and nine from Novel Models.

🌎 Global stablecoin regulation is taking shape ahead of 2026, with Latin America emerging as a key region to watch. Brazil’s central bank has published stablecoin rules set to take effect next year, introducing licensing and reporting requirements for issuers, as the country continues to account for a significant share of the region’s crypto transaction volume.

| Other News 

Leadership changes 🔄

• 🇦🇷 MercadoLibre founder Marcos Galperin stepped down as CEO after more than two decades, moving into an executive chairman role while Ariel Szarfsztejn takes over day-to-day leadership of the e-commerce and payments giant.
• 🇨🇱 Tapp, the Chilean prepaid card issuer, named Carolina Iturra as its new CEO starting in January. She previously served for a decade as country director and commercial manager at Sencillito, and until Tuesday was general manager of MetroMuv, the Metro de Santiago subsidiary where she led the launch of its digital wallet and prepaid card.

🇦🇷 Koin, a Brazil-based e-commerce payments and fraud-prevention company, reported 43% growth in Argentina in 2025, outpacing its regional average. The country now represents nearly a quarter of Koin’s total transaction volume in Latin America, reflecting strong e-commerce activity despite broader regional headwinds.

🇨🇱 Conectados, the Chilean payments company that allowed users to pay using their national ID number, entered liquidation after failing to secure new funding and sustain operations. The company cited regulatory complexity, rising operating costs, and slower-than-expected adoption as key factors behind its shutdown, marking another exit in Chile’s competitive digital payments market.

🇨🇴 Cobre Financial received authorization from Colombia’s financial regulator to operate as a licensed financing company. The new entity, backed by the fintech Cobre brand and institutional investors, can now take deposits, offer savings products, extend credit, and provide leasing and portfolio purchase services.

🇲🇽 CoDi, Mexico’s QR-based payment system, saw transactions fall about 18 percent year over year in 2024, according to data from the country’s banking regulator. Despite being live for more than six years as a real-time, fee-free payment option, usage remains low compared with other methods, with cash and traditional transfers still dominating.

| Deeper Reads 

• Fintech set to lead startup investment activity in Latin America in 2026: report The piece looks at why fintech is expected to remain the most active startup investment sector in Latin America in 2026, driven by payments, lending, and financial infrastructure. It highlights investor interest in scalable platforms, regulatory clarity in key markets, and fintech’s role in expanding access to financial services across the region.
• Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework: 2025 Monitoring and Implementation Update. This OECD report tracks how countries are preparing to implement the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, a global standard that will require crypto-asset service providers to collect and share user and transaction data with tax authorities. It shows how governments, including several in Latin America, are moving toward greater cross-border tax transparency by aligning domestic laws, building reporting systems, and coordinating timelines ahead of automatic information exchanges starting in 2027. The focus is on compliance readiness and enforcement capacity, rather than market adoption or innovation impacts.

📣 LatAm fintech enthusiasts looking for a new role, check out https://jobs.thisweekinfintech.com

Made in LatAm with 🩵by 

Elena, Deputy Director of New Technologies at Afirme Financial Group

Carlos, ESG Analyst at CFECapital

Vivi, Communication expert and Principal at Areté Consulting

👍👎 Did you like this edition of TWIF LatAm?  Take a 1-minute anonymous survey here.

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