Hola amig@s fintech,

Here’s what’s been buzzing in LatAm fintech this week — new deals, product drops, and the trends shaking things up across the region. Let’s get into it!

🩵Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

🌐 TWIF Community

🗣️ Channels

📊 Stat of the Week 

In Mexico, the five largest banks control two-thirds of national assets, and the system shows an average ROE of 18%, surpassing the US, the EU, and most LatAm countries (except Guatemala and DR). While giants like BBVA and Banorte allocate between 50% and 70% of their assets to loans to achieve an ROE above 20%, banks like BASE and Intercam focus on investment-based models. (Source)

📖  Read of the Week

According to the "Finnovista Fintech Radar Colombia 2025" by Finnosummit, in collaboration with Mastercard and Galileo, the number of local fintech companies exceeded 400 by the first quarter of 2024, tripling their revenue in four years. Today, almost 40% of these develop their own AI (vs. 66% for general use), reducing operating costs by an average of 44%; fintech digital transactions doubled year-on-year, reaching US$28 billion. In addition, 4 out of 10 solutions in the country are foreign, consolidating Colombia as a regional magnet for financial innovation.

🦉 Post of the Week

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇧🇷 AlugaMais, the Brazilian rent-tech platform offering flexible rental payment options, raised a $2 million Seed round to launch its "12-month rent advance" product, allowing tenants to pay rent in installments. 

🇲🇽 Kira, the Miami-based and Mexico-operating embedded fintech infrastructure startup, raised a $2 million Pre-Seed round. The round will scale its AI- and stablecoin-powered API for remittances, wallets, international payroll, and USD savings. Kira launched in stealth mode, generating $3 million in ARR, and is now preparing to expand into Colombia.

💵 Debt 

🇨🇴 Addi, the Colombian BNPL and consumer credit company, received a $35 million credit line from BBVA Spark, marking its first funding from a Colombian institution. This complements prior credit facilities of $100 million from Victory Park Capital and $70 million from Goldman Sachs and Fasanara. 

💰 Venture funds 

🌍 Propel Venture Partners, the San Francisco-based VC firm focused on early-stage fintech investments, announced the close of a $100 million fund (Fund III) to back fintech startups in LatAm.

📺 Sponsored Content

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇵🇪 BiPay, the Peruvian digital wallet,  launched its new digital prepaid card in partnership with Mastercard, requiring neither a bank account nor in-person paperwork. The card enables users to make online purchases and in-store payments at merchants equipped with Izipay POS terminals.

🇲🇽 Bink, the payment solutions platform operating in Mexico and Colombia, announced the launch of its new Visa card, allowing businesses to centralize corporate benefits and incentives on a single card. The company targets 1,000 enterprises for adoption by year-end.

🇨🇱 Creditú, the Chilean credit startup, in partnership with NGT and Opea, launched a property down payment financing product for the Brazilian market. The initiative adapts Creditú’s existing Chilean program and incorporates automated management of signed contracts.

🇺🇾 Prometeo, the Uruguayan cross-border banking API, in partnership with Jumio, announced the integration of their technologies to enable banks, fintechs, payment gateways, and digital platforms to simultaneously verify user identities and bank account ownership.

🇧🇷 Novù Pay, the Brazilian payment solutions company, announced it will launch its digital payment solutions on July 27. The company offers a free digital account, an international debit card, Pix transactions, mobile top-ups, bill payments, and comprehensive financial management

🇨🇴 Cobre, a Colombia-based digital wallet and treasury management platform, announced it will integrate with Bre-B, the immediate payment system operated by the Banco de la República. This move makes Cobre the first indirect participant in Bre-B, advancing real-time payments adoption in the country.

🇦🇷 Pomelo, the Argentinian financial technology platform, announced a strategic partnership with FICO to integrate the Falcon fraud prevention solution via BSafe. The alliance enables banks and fintechs across Latin America to deploy advanced, fast, and secure anti-fraud technology to safeguard their operations.

🇧🇷 Serasa Experian, the Brazil-based provider of services for supplier management, credit acquisition and granting, fraud prevention, and data validation, launched Serasa Descomplica, a financial management solution for SMBs. The platform enables companies to consolidate multiple accounts into one through Open Finance.

🇦🇷 Vesseo, the Argentinian digital wallet, launched a new QR payment feature that allows users to make purchases directly with USDC at any merchant. This innovation enables transactions without converting digital assets into pesos or relying on traditional banking intermediaries, enhancing crypto usability for everyday payments.

🇨🇱 Global66, the Chilean payments platform, announced the launch of a compensation account designed to help SMBs manage international commercial transactions more efficiently.

🇧🇷 Quindin, the Brazilian company,  launched a free payroll advance service via WhatsApp, providing an accessible benefit for both employees and employers while facilitating labor financial management.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking 

🇲🇽 Mercado Pago launched a new point-of-sale (POS) solution aimed at empowering small and medium-sized businesses to manage operations, monitor inventory, control cash flow, and gain insights through performance metrics. 

🇨🇴 Claro Pay, the Colombian digital wallet, announced the rollout of Transfiya, enabling users to send and receive money instantly across financial institutions nationwide using just a mobile phone number, with no additional fees.

🇦🇷 Banco Macro eliminated fees on dollar transfers for transactions up to USD 10,000, aiming to benefit professionals, freelancers, and remittance flows, and enhance cost efficiency for clients moving funds internationally.

🇲🇽 Banco Santander Mexico announced the launch of a new feature allowing cash withdrawals at ATMs without inserting a card, utilizing NFC technology.

📜 Policy

🇧🇴 The Financial System Supervisory Authority (ASFI) in Bolivia announced that it will begin regulating digital platforms used for buying and selling digital assets, including crypto assets, marking a step toward increased oversight of the sector.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) suspended the effects of presidential and congressional decrees concerning the Financial Transactions Tax (IOF), halting recent regulatory changes related to its application.

🇧🇷 SL Tools, the technology infrastructure platform for the financial market, secured authorization from the National Securities Commission (CNV) in Brazil to operate as an organized over-the-counter (OTC) market for private credit assets, expanding opportunities for trading and investment in non-listed debt instruments.

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📰 Other News 

🇨🇱 Daniela Espinosa was named Director of Partnerships and M&As at Equifax Chile.

🇧🇷 Otávio Damaso was named Consultant for regulatory and risk management issues at Nu.

🌍 Decelera, the impact-driven startup deceleration program, opened its call for applications for its upcoming edition in the Mexican Caribbean. The program brings together 25 startups from LatAm for a unique slow-paced acceleration experience focused on sustainability, business strategy, and internationalization with support from investors and mentors, applications until July 31st.

🇨🇴 Forte, a Colombian edtech-employment platform, is revolutionizing regional employability with its pay-for-performance education model. The system aligns training with job placement outcomes, where users only pay after securing a job, promoting accessibility and accountability across LatAm job market.

📚 Deeper Reads

Bitcoin takes over from gold - Is This the Permanent Shift?

Why is human judgment key in the age of AI? (ES)

How to capture generation Z users in digital banking (ES)

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

Made in LatAm with 🩵by 

Elena, Digital Innovation Manager at Banco Azteca

Carlos, Senior Associate at Emant Consultants

Lorena, Head of Policy for Spanish-speaking LatAm at Tools for Humanity

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