Hola amig@s fintech,

We track how fintech moves across the region and beyond: we are also behind the people and forces shaping the future of financial services.

On August 21–22, we’ll be at #ColombiaTechFest at @ColombiaTechWeek in Bogotá. If you’re building something that matters in Latin America, you should be too. 

🎟️ Tickets: colombiatechfest.co

We have some tickets for TWIF LatAm paid subscribers, so feel free to email us at latam@thisweekinfintech.com to let us know if you are interested.

🩵Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

🌐 TWIF Community

🗣️ Channels

📊 Stat of the Week 

In 2024, financial inclusion in Colombia reached 96% of adults with at least one financial product (up from 94.6% in 2023), with 37.1 million people holding deposit accounts. Yet significant gaps remain: only 35.5% of adults have formal loans, rural inclusion stands at 65.6% versus nearly universal urban inclusion at 89.3%, plus gender disparities persist in loan amounts (Source).

📖  Read of the Week

The “The chargeback window of opportunity” by Mastercard shows LatAm experiencing a 15 % year-over-year increase in payment disputes, making it the fastest-growing region globally, with an average of 3 disputes per 1,000 transactions, compared to the global average of 2. It highlights Brazil and Mexico as accounting for 45 % of LatAm chargebacks, underscoring the rising demand for strong dispute prevention and management solutions in regional e-commerce.

🦉 Post of the Week

 🎙️ Podcast of the Week 

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇨🇱 Dex, the Chilean digital-asset custody and exchange platform, raised a $1.8 million Seed round from Grupo Loc. Dex is building a regulated infrastructure for institutional and retail digital asset services in Chile, simplifying custody and trading within a secure framework.

💵 Debt 

🇨🇴 Waltz, the US-based company specializing in purchasing and investing in US real estate, raised $50 million in a mixed debt and equity financing round led by Setpoint Capital, TLV Partners and Aleph, with participation from other venture funds.

💰 Venture funds 

🇨🇱 BCI, the Chilean bank, announced a $750 million fund to support over 20,000 early-stage ventures in Chile through credit and investment programs as part of its strategy to boost entrepreneurship and financial inclusion.

🌎Lotux, the early-stage VC firm, announced the closing of its second fund to support LatAm startups. The fund offers ticket sizes between $50,000 and $100,000 and targets sectors such as AI, fintech, SaaS, and marketplaces. Lotux aims to fill a gap in pre-seed and seed-stage financing across the region, with a strong focus on founder support and regional scalability.

🇲🇽 Coparmex Mexico City, the chapter of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic, announced a Business Management AI Tool and proposed the creation of an Innovation Fund to foster entrepreneurship and digital transformation in the city. The initiative aims to boost SME productivity and innovation capacity by providing strategic digital tools and financing.

📺 Sponsored Content

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☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇵🇪 NovoPayment, the US-based banking-as-a-service platform operating across LatAm, acquired Servitebca, the local fintech that had previously provided the company’s infrastructure in Peru. The move aims to strengthen NovoPayment’s footprint in the Andean region as it scales its embedded finance solutions. No financial terms were disclosed.

🇨🇱 Integrity Holding, the Chilean investment group, acquired Alaga, the Peruvian digital lending platform focused on SMEs. The deal aims to expand Integrity’s fintech portfolio and enhance Alaga’s credit distribution across underserved businesses in Peru. No financial terms were disclosed.

🇲🇽 Tapi, the Argentinian B2B payments platform, acquired Arcus, Mastercard’s bill pay and cash-in infrastructure business in Mexico, in a move to scale its bill payment services across LatAm. No financial terms were disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🌎 Mantra, the global blockchain platform focused on real-world assets (RWA), and Win Investments, the Argentinian digital sports assets startup, announced a strategic partnership to drive the tokenization of real-world assets in the sports sector. The collaboration will leverage Mantra’s Layer 1 blockchain technology and Win Investments’ expertise in creating digital sports assets within a regulatory framework.

🇺🇾 dLocal, the Uruguayan cross-border payments platform, partnered with BVNK, the UK-based stablecoin payments infrastructure provider, to enable faster settlements for its global merchant network. The collaboration aims to enhance transaction speed and efficiency in cross-border payments by leveraging stablecoin technology.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking 

🇩🇴 Qik, the licensed multiple-service bank, unveiled an accessible solution aimed at promoting savings and digitizing transactions in the Dominican Republic, reinforcing its commitment to financial inclusion and digital transformation.

🇨🇴 Cobre, the Colombian company specializing in business payments, announced a partnership with Cabify to enable instant payouts to over 150,000 drivers registered on the ride-hailing platform in Colombia, streamlining earnings disbursements and enhancing driver liquidity.

🇲🇽 Tala, the US-based digital financial services company, launched the Confianzómetro 2025, a free online tool designed to help users spot red flags in digital loan offers and make safer, more informed decisions when using financial apps. As part of this initiative, Tala signed an agreement with Condusef to combat digital fraud in Mexico’s financial ecosystem.

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) warned that the rapid advance of artificial intelligence is creating new challenges for cybersecurity, while simultaneously opening avenues for fraud perpetrators to exploit emerging technologies.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) cautioned that technological progress is also reshaping regulatory institutions, underscoring the need for the country to accelerate the development of AI regulations that avoid overly restrictive frameworks.

🇧🇷 Swap, the Brazilian company specializing in B2B financial infrastructure, received authorization from Brazil’s Central Bank, enabling its operations within Pix Direto, further expanding its instant payments capabilities in the country’s digital ecosystem.

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📰 Other News 

🇲🇽 Unlimit, the global platform, expanded its principal license with Visa to include card issuance in Mexico, enabling local businesses to offer branded debit cards and strengthen their embedded finance offerings.

🇧🇷 Justos, the Brazilian AI-powered insurtech that uses driving behavior for personalized auto insurance pricing, raised a $16.5 million Series A led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from SoftBank’s LA Fund, GGV Capital, and others angel investors .

🇦🇷 InterBrain, the Argentinian B2B edtech startup offering an immersive, AI-driven learning experience via VR/AR (“Inmerso”), secured an undisclosed strategic investment from Sancor Seguros Impulsa, following over seven years of partnership . 

🇲🇽 The Government of Guanajuato, the Mexican state, joined forces with Mercado Libre to boost visibility and digital sales for local entrepreneurs and SMEs, enabling them to leverage the platform’s logistics and fintech tools to scale operations nationwide.

🇲🇽 Unlocked AI, the Mexican AI community for SMEs, Tuiio, Santander’s microfinance institution, and Finvero, the credit management AI platform, launched a joint program aimed at improving access to financing for Mexican women entrepreneurs through AI-based credit analysis and financial education tools.

🌎 Back2Lead, the new talent development program for women in tech and business from Santander, launched “Momlancers” to promote leadership reintegration for women after a career break, strengthening gender diversity in LatAm corporations.

🌎 Overboost, the LatAm innovation studio, launched SPEED, a venture  program designed to connect corporations in LatAm with startups, accelerating open innovation and real business adoption through early-stage solution pilots.

📚 Deeper Reads

People use AI for companionship much less than we’re led to believe

The Digital Transformation of Legal Compliance in Mexico 

Bitcoin mining 2025: Environmental and regulatory concerns

The "cracks" who don't make the cover (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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