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Hola amig@s fintech,
Brazil is now the world's top country for crypto adoption, according to Chainalysis's new index, and it has Latin America's largest crypto economy at $252.5 billion. The region's overall crypto economy grew 9.8% in the year to June, but that growth didn't come from Brazil, whose crypto economy actually shrank 1.6%. The engines of growth were Mexico (+25.5%), Argentina (+15.3%), Colombia (+13.8%), and Venezuela, which more than doubled (+107.2%). Brazil, meanwhile, looks like a market settling in, with rules to match. Its central bank turned down its first crypto license application this week.
Beyond crypto, Revolut got the green light to buy a bank in Argentina, and Apple brought Tap to Pay on iPhone to the country with Mercado Pago as its launch partner.
Enjoy the read.
~Vivi
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The Rundown
🏦 M&A
🇦🇷 Revolut won approval from the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (Banco Central de la República Argentina, BCRA) to acquire Banco Cetelem Argentina. The bank will be renamed Revolut Bank Argentina once the deal closes in the coming weeks. The purchase gives Revolut a locally regulated banking license, and it plans to launch to the public in 2027.
🚀 Product Launches
🇦🇷 Apple launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in Argentina, with Mercado Pago as its sole initial partner. Merchants can now accept contactless card and wallet payments with just an iPhone and no extra hardware. Argentina is one of eight Latin American markets in the rollout.
🇨🇴 Colombian B2B payments platform Cobre enabled cross-border payments originated in USDC and USDT across seven blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, and Base. The feature adds faster settlement options alongside traditional banking rails.
🇨🇱 Chilean fintech Haulmer is launching AndCo., a free prepaid account for SMEs with instant sales settlement and a return on balances. It runs on the license Haulmer acquired with Falabella's Fpay business in 2025.
💸 Fundraises
🇲🇽 Mexico-born corporate payments fintech Jeeves raised $110 million in a round led by CoinFund, with a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Y Combinator, and GIC participating. Its stablecoin volume has reached $1.5 billion annualized. It will open a Buenos Aires office as it targets more than 100 corporate clients in Argentina this year.
🌎 Binance invested $100 million in Circle, the issuer of USDC, through a private placement of Class A shares. The two also renewed their partnership for five years, with a focus on promoting USDC in emerging markets.
🇲🇽 Galgo, the motorcycle sales and financing platform, secured a $56 million credit line from BBVA Spark to expand financing in Mexico. Since 2022 it has financed more than 40,000 people there and now places over 3,500 motorcycles a month.
🇨🇴 Plenti, the Medellín-based digital dollar platform, raised a $3 million seed round led by Tether, with participation from Verda Ventures. The company reports more than 150,000 users and will use the funds to expand into Peru and Bolivia.
🏛️ Policy & Regulation
🇧🇷 The Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil, BCB) rejected Higher Global's application to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (PSAV), the first denial under its new crypto framework. The notice gives no reason. It bars the company from offering virtual asset services or any other activity that requires central bank authorization.
🇲🇽 Conekta, the Mexican online payments platform, received authorization from the National Banking and Securities Commission (Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, CNBV) to operate as a direct non-bank acquirer. It can now connect straight to the card networks without an intermediary bank.
🗂️ Other News
🇧🇷 Nubank's parent Nu Holdings is in early talks to acquire UK digital bank Monzo, in a deal that could value it at $10.6 to $13.3 billion. A deal would give Nubank its first foothold in the UK and Europe.
🇵🇪 Fitch Ratings said Peru's fintech sector is moving from payments-led growth into lending, embedded finance, and open finance, though it remains less mature than Brazil and Mexico. Fitch expects tougher requirements on governance, anti-money laundering, and cybersecurity, which may weigh on smaller players.
🌎 FINNOSUMMIT's DisruptHer initiative is shifting its focus from how many women take part to how much they influence business decisions. More than a third of FINNOSUMMIT 2026 registrants were women: 25.1% were C-level, founders, or partners, 18.1% were directors or VPs, and 10.5% were heads or area leaders.
🇨🇱 Mercado Pago is expanding its Partners Program in Chile. The program lets independent developers and agencies earn ongoing income for integrating Mercado Pago's payments into their clients' e-commerce stores.
🇲🇽 Nu México named Estephany Paulette Ley as CEO. That makes her the second woman leading a bank in Mexico.
What if access was never the finish line?
Across Latin America, millions now have access to financial products. But access alone doesn’t mean those products are useful, connected, or built around how people actually move and use money. So, what comes next?
This Week in Fintech and Interledger Foundation are joining forces to connect builders, creators, and ecosystem partners to answer that question and build what comes next for money.
So far, 400+ fintech operators have joined us across 4 events, in 2 countries, and +30 roundtables discussing ideas ranging from payments and remittances to smart AI assistants and open banking.
Next stop: Medellín, Colombia, with Innovation at the Edges on October 15 and the Open Payments Hackathon on October 16–17.
See you next month!
Quote of the Week
Pedro Blanco Pinto, Head of Business Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, Paymentology
Editor’s Picks
Fun Stuff
Pop quiz: were you paying attention this week?
Which central bank issued its first-ever rejection of a crypto license?
How many Latin American countries got Tap to Pay on iPhone in Apple's latest rollout?
What will Banco Cetelem Argentina be called once its sale closes?
Answers: 1) Brazil’s Central Bank, 2) Eight, 3) Revolut Bank Argentina
That's all for now. We will see you back here next week!
