Hola amig@s fintech,

Cumbia, born in Colombia from the fusion of Indigenous, African, and Spanish rhythms, has become one of LatAm’s most unifying musical traditions. It has evolved into countless regional styles from Mexico to Argentina. Today, cumbia continues to bridge generations and cultures, mixed with urban beats, celebrated in festivals, and recognized as a vibrant symbol of Latin identity. So let’s keep on dancing cumbia!

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🩵 Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

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📊 Stat of the Week 

In 2024, Mercado Libre’s ecosystem drove major economic impact across LatAm: in Brazil, 5.8 million SMEs and entrepreneurs generated approximately $75 billion (3.2% of GDP) and over 111,000 jobs; while in Mexico, 1 million SMEs mobilized $15 billion (0.81% of GDP) and created 33,000 jobs through the platform (Source).

📖  Read of the Week

The J.P. Morgan report “Payments Without Borders” underlines Latin America’s accelerating adoption of real-time and cross-border payment infrastructures. This has been illustrated by Pix’s massive scale (150+ million users, billions of transactions) and Mexico’s “Directo a México” integration with the U.S. payments network. These developments are driving greater efficiency, transparency, financial inclusion, and reduced costs, creating fertile ground for fintechs to layer interoperable rails, embed financial services, and offer cross-currency and global digital payment solutions.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

🦉 Post of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇦🇷 Remitee, the cross-border payments and remittance platform based in Argentina, raised a $20 million funding round to expand its embedded remittances offering. The round aims to enhance its partnerships with fintechs and e-commerce platforms integrating cross-border transfers. 

🇧🇷 CredAluga, the Brazilian proptech platform offering rent guarantees and digital rental management, raised a $10.3 million Series A round led by Provence Partners, with participation from existing investors. 

🇲🇽 Grupalia, the Mexico-based neobank for microbusinesses, raised $4.8 million in a Pre-seed round with participation from Platanus, Semilla Ventures, Innogen Capital, CAPEM, fintech founders, Addem Capital, and LatAm family offices. 

💵 Debt 

🇧🇷 Zippi, the Brazilian consumer finance company that develops a personal loans provider platform intended to transform the reality of micro and small entrepreneurs, secured $15.9 million through a Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC) led by Itaú and Verde Asset.

💰 Venture funds 

🌎 IDB Invest, the private-sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, made a $10 million equity investment in Bicycle I, L.P., a LatAm–focused growth equity fund led by Bicycle Capital to support scaling of tech-enabled companies, including fintech, across the region. The investment will include nonfinancial support in ESG, impact metrics, and global network access. 

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇵🇪 Bold, the Colombian company, announced the acquisition of VendeMás, Niubiz’ payments facilitator, marking the company’s entry into the Peruvian market and its first expansion outside Colombia.

🇨🇴 Koggi, the Colombian digital platform to facilitate the home loan process in the real estate market, acquired Alohome to boost its proptech offering, a digital housing marketplace with the goal of combining its expertise in home finance with Alohome's sales technology.

🇲🇽 SLM, the Mexican financial technology company, announced the acquisition of MiCrediMoto, a platform focused on microcredit for mobility, with the aim of accelerating its commitment to expanding financial access in LatAm.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇨🇴 Littio, the Colombian startup providing digital dollar accounts to Latin Americans, enabled 24/7 instant transfers in U.S. dollars and Euros after joining the Banco de la República’s Bre-B payment infrastructure in Colombia.

🇲🇽 Finia, the newly launched platform in Mexico, began operations as an AI-powered credit platform designed to optimize credit allocation, operations, and customer assessment.

🇨🇴 Plenti, the Colombian company specializing in international payments and digital dollar transfers, announced its integration with Bre-B, the instant payment system of Banco de la República.

🇧🇷 Revolut, the British company, announced its expansion plan in Latin America with its entry in the Brazilian market. The company will invest in AI, blockchain infrastructure, and fraud prevention systems with the goal of creating a financial “super app.”

🇧🇷 Conta Simples, the Brazilian all-in-one financial platform, launched a digital solution to modernize corporate travel expense management, offering virtual cards, automation tools, and a credit line.

🇧🇷 LiberPay, the U.S.-based smart payroll solution company, launched a decentralized payment platform in Brazil, offering competitive rates and enabling businesses to accept dollar-pegged stablecoins.

🇵🇪 Ligo, the Peruvian startup offering mobile application and prepaid cards for online and in-person transactions, announced the integration of its services with Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as the introduction of interoperable QR payments, digital credit offerings, and new global partnerships to expand its ecosystem of financial solutions.

🇬🇹 Tala, the global instant, mobile-first financial services for underserved populations in emerging markets, has begun operations in Guatemala, marking its first expansion into Central America after establishing a presence in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

🇲🇽 PayPal launched its new Deferred Payments product in Mexico, enabling users to choose how and when to pay for online purchases with clear, secure, and accessible financing options.

🌎 Swift announced the development of a blockchain in collaboration with over 30 financial institutions, including Bradesco, Itaú, and Banorte, to enable real-time international payments 24/7 with interoperability across both new and legacy systems.

📜 Policy

🇪🇨 The Superintendency of Banks of Ecuador issued a new resolution redefining the regulatory framework for fintech companies, introducing updated requirements on corporate governance, as well as new rules on credit scoring, authentication, and disbursement processes.

🇦🇷 The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) announced that virtual wallets, including Mercado Pago and Cocos Capital, will no longer be allowed to sell official U.S. dollars. The decision follows findings that these companies were conducting currency exchange operations without authorization, with the BCRA clarifying that only banks and licensed exchange houses are permitted to sell official dollars.

🇧🇷 Nubank, the Brazilian neobank, applied for a banking license to operate in the United States, marking a significant step in its strategy to expand beyond Latin America.

🇨🇱 The Chilean Financial Market Commission (CMF) is considering extending the implementation deadline of the Fintech Law, specifically the Open Finance System (SFA), which is scheduled to come into effect in July 2026.

📰 Other News 

🇧🇷 Brazil accounts for 61% of banking Trojan detections in LatAm. According to an ESET report, the country accounted for this percentage of incidents in the region in 2024, indicating a high risk to online banking credentials and transactions. Experts note that the use of PIX (Personal Query), digital wallets, and open finance expands the attack surface, requiring increased cybersecurity and governance in the financial sector.

🇧🇷 Axi announces the retirement of its Chief Commercial Officer, Louis Cooper. Cooper will step down from his executive responsibilities at the end of September 2025, but will remain a shareholder in the company.

🌎 Wallbit expands its operations in LatAm with a focus on wealth management. The US fintech, already present in the region, plans to become a wealth management platform (robo-advisor, extended portfolio, fractional investments) starting in October 2025.

🇲🇽 Mexico proposes withholding taxes on crowdfunding platforms by 2026. The 2026 expense budget stipulates that crowdfunding platforms acting as intermediaries will withhold income tax and VAT from transactions.

📚 Deeper Reads

Verifying humans without sharing data to ensure privacy, trust

Frictionless payments are a fraud factory. Banks can’t afford the tab

Instant transfers: the engine of real-time payments in Latin America (ES)

Digitalization of payments requires incentives and greater flexibility (ES)

AI and Open Finance: two keys to enabling more users to access cheaper, more personalized financial services (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, Research Associate at El Colegio de México

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

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