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Hello fintech friends,
Mexico has become a proving ground for neobanks looking to scale. Nu now has 16 million customers, reaching 16.5% of the country’s adult population; Plata has more than 3 million customers; and Ualá is growing its active user base by 7% month over month since obtaining its banking license. Revolut, meanwhile, reached 500,000 account holders less than six months after launching operations.
For the biggest players, scale increasingly means operating across borders. Nu operates in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia; Ualá in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia; and Plata is making Colombia its first market outside Mexico. Revolut, meanwhile, is building across Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina.
This week, we have a report that Revolut is also preparing to launch in Peru, a market that presents an unusual opening. Digital wallets already account for nearly half of retail payments, so the appetite for mobile-first finance is proven. But banking itself remains tightly held, with four traditional banks controlling more than 80% of deposits and loans. It’s a market that behaves digitally but still banks largely with incumbents, exactly the gap a neobank could exploit.
Revolut will be the first neobank to test that opening as a fully digital bank, though operations aren’t expected until late 2027 or early 2028. The real test will be whether the company can turn a market that already pays digitally into one willing to bank differently.
Enjoy the read.
~ Vivi
The Rundown
🏦 M&A
🇦🇷 Monnet Payment Solutions, an online payment solutions provider in LatAm, acquired a 50.01% stake in Argentine fintechs Cobro Digital, Cobro Digital Collect, and Efectivo Digital.
🚀 Product Launches
🇲🇽 Agentic payments intelligence platform DEUNA expanded its global strategic partnership with PayPal to give enterprise merchants single-API access to PayPal’s full product ecosystem.
🇧🇷 Swap has launched its Benefits Platform 2.0, integrating private payroll-deductible loans, a digital benefits marketplace, and a white-label corporate expense portal into a unified ecosystem.
🇨🇱 Xepelin announced its plans to expand beyond financing and financial management with the upcoming launch of a free, 100% digital business account in the fourth quarter of 2026, issued by Banco BICE under a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) model.
🇸🇻 Ábaco has expanded its small and medium-sized enterprise ecosystem beyond its digital invoice-factoring model by launching Business Suite, an integrated platform combining electronic invoicing, real-time inventory tracking, sales, purchases, and financial reporting.
💸 Fundraises
🇲🇽 Mundi, the fintech powering export growth for Mexican firms and their supply chain, secured a $150 million financing facility from Column.
🇻🇪 Pago ASAP, the Venezuelan paytech, raised a $1.15 million seed round, led by Brazilian fund Sassholic.
🇨🇱 Betterplan, the Chilean wealth manager, raised a $1.1 million round led by the Anastassiou family office.
🏛️ Policy & Regulation
🇵🇪 Revolut is preparing to launch operations in Peru between late 2027 and early 2028, having obtained organization authorization from the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS) to pursue a full banking license.
🇵🇪 OneKey Perú EEDE S.A., backed by Peruvian payments company Tupay's parent group, received SBS authorization to organize as an electronic money issuer, giving Tupay's payment flows dedicated regulated infrastructure. A separate operating authorization is still required before it can go live. .
🗂️ Other News
🇧🇷 Pix is accelerating the shift away from cash in Brazil, with 61% of the population reporting reduced or abandoned use of physical currency and 82% now using the tool overall, though adoption among people over 60 lags.
🇲🇽 Nu, Plata, and Revolut are intensifying competition in Mexican consumer credit, now holding 22.5% of all cards in circulation and, according to BBVA Research, adding nearly one percentage point to the country's consumer credit growth.
🇦🇷 Argentina's 2026 labor reform is reshaping conditions for Rappi and PedidosYa couriers, classifying them as independent contractors with new tax and social-security obligations and new rights like keeping 100% of tips.
🇧🇷 Banco do Brasil and iFood launched a partnership connecting eligible couriers to the federal Move Brazil Motorcycles program, financing up to 100% of new motorcycles over 48 months.
🇲🇽 Trafalgar presented its strategy for TRF Casa de Bolsa on BIVA's trading floor, outlining plans to bring more SMEs into capital markets as it integrates the brokerage with its Sofipo and payments businesses.
What happens when you put 85 fintech builders in a room and ask them what the future of money could look like?
That’s what we did at Fintech Builders Lab Bogotá, bringing together founders, operators, builders, and financial leaders to work through ideas around AI, stablecoins, Open Finance, interoperability, embedded finance, and cross-border payments. No panels, no pitches — just an afternoon of building together.
We’ve put together a quick event recap with photos and some of the ideas that came out of the room. Check it out here, and if you missed Bogotá, we’re doing it again: Fintech Builders Lab is coming to Mexico City on September 22. RSVP here.
Editor’s Picks
That’s all for now. We will see you back here next week!
