Hola amig@s fintech,

This week, we're celebrating the women who are not only building the future of fintech but also shaping the next generation at home. Whether you're leading product roadmaps or bedtime stories (or probably both), we see you — and we appreciate you. Here's what’s new and noteworthy in LatAm fintech this week.

🩵Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

🌐 TWIF Community

🗣️ Channels

📊 Stat of the Week 

Contactless payments are common in Brazil, with 71% of consumers using them regularly. Most of these users rely on the technology frequently, indicating consistent adoption (Source).

📖  Read of the Week

According to the "National Survey on the Availability and Use of Information in Households", in 2024, Mexico's digitalization significantly advanced financial inclusion: 81.4% of women and 81.0% of men use the internet, with 29.7% of users making online payments—up from 26.9% in 2022. Mobile internet access also grew, with 60.8% connecting via mobile networks, enhancing access to digital financial services and reducing the gender gap in internet usage.

🦉 Post of the Week

 🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity & Debt

🇲🇽 Xante, the Mexican proptech subsidiary of the housing developer Vinte, received a convertible loan equivalent to $25 million from BID Invest. The funding will enable Xante to expand its business through the acquisition, maintenance, and remodeling of existing homes, particularly focusing on low- and middle-income segments. 

🇵🇪 Kiwi, the Miami-based healthcare financing company, raised a total of $10 million—comprising $2 million in equity and $8 million in debt—in a round led by Tyler Johnson, Beau Woodward, and Jacob Panero, all of whom will join the company's board of directors.

🇧🇷 Lara, the healthcare financing platform backed by the Sweden-based investment company Webrock Ventures AB, secured $5 million in credit funding from a leading Brazilian credit asset management firm. The investment aims to bolster Lara's loan origination efforts in Brazil. 

📺 Sponsored Content

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here or reach out to latam@thisweekinfintech.com. Want to sponsor an event with the TWIF LatAm community?  Check out the FAQ here, send us your info via this form or reach out to latam@thisweekinfintech.com

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇺🇸 Jeeves, the US-based corporate expense management platform, announced the launch of a new embedded finance solution for Brazil's travel sector featuring Virtual Card Numbers (VCNs). Designed to combat fraud and improve reconciliation, the API-enabled solution aims to help travel agencies streamline payments and gain real-time control. 

🇵🇪 Bancom, the Peruvian digital banking platform, announced the launch of Luqea, a new interoperable digital wallet. Designed to address gaps in the country’s fragmented payments ecosystem, Luqea aims to offer secure, AI-enhanced payment tools with biometric authentication and real-time fraud detection. 

🇦🇷 Mercado Pago announced the launch of DineroPlus, a 0% interest loan program offering up to $11,000 to small merchants excluded from traditional banking. Aimed at Mercado Pago and Mercado Libre sellers, the initiative aims to provide instant credit with flexible repayment options and no fees for early payment or transfers. 

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 During the 88th Banking Convention, Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, Governor of the Bank of Mexico, underscored the importance of allowing new players into the financial system to enhance the well-being of the Mexicans and promote financial inclusion. She also announced that the Central Bank is developing a digital platform to provide personalized credit solutions to citizens.

🇧🇷 The Central Bank of Brazil issued a series of regulatory updates, including authorization for finance companies to issue Real Estate Credit Bills (LCIs), new rules standardizing fee-based interoperability events and their limits, and revised guidelines for the operation of Automatic Pix—extending the deadline for financial institutions serving businesses to phase out this modality.

📰 Other News 

🇧🇷 Roberto Campos Neto was named Vice Chairman & Global Head of Public Policy at Nubank.

🇵🇪 Margarita Briceño Málaga was named Head of Impact at UTEC Venture.

🇵🇦 Panama launched FinHub, a pioneering financial innovation hub designed to connect fintech entrepreneurs with regulators. This initiative, supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), aims to foster inclusive and sustainable financial services by facilitating dialogue between innovators and financial authorities. 

🇩🇴 Nippy, the Dominican workertech platform, and the Motoben, a DR’s government program, launched the country's first digital inclusion initiative targeting over 400,000 motorcycle taxi drivers ("motocochistas"). The platform offers digital registration, virtual education through WhatsApp, and access to benefits such as health insurance, microloans, and savings plans for these independent workers.

📚 Deeper Reads

Here are Latin America’s biggest startups based on valuation

The credit puzzle in Mexico (ES)

What are the new regional innovation hubs that are changing Chile? (ES)

Thinking about traveling to Brazil? How does Pix work? The popular payment system that revolutionized the country's payment methods (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

Daniela, Investment Associate at Cultivo

Carlos, Senior Associate at Emant Consultants

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

👍👎 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.