Hola amig@s fintech,

There are a few days left for all our planned events in September. Don’t forget to RSVP to our annual Fintech Mixer (Sep 23), the Sunset happy hour (Sep 24), and the exclusive breakfast (Sep 25). Join us for top networking and insightful discussions. 

And in October, we will have RiskCon Mexico City (Oct 8) brought to you by Oscilar and TWIF. 

We hope to see you soon. In the meantime, stay in the loop, by subscribing and following us!

🩵 Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

🌐 TWIF Community

🗣️ Channels

📊 Stat of the Week 

Colombia's fintech market has experienced significant growth, expanding by 387% from 84 to 409 startups between 2017 and 2023, making it the fastest-growing fintech market in LatAm. This expansion is driven by factors such as limited access to traditional credit, favorable regulations, and increased digitalization. The lending segment now represents 27.8% of the fintech ecosystem, indicating a strong demand for alternative credit solutions (Source). 

📖  Read of the Week

According to the report "Open Finance: Unleashing the Next Wave of Financial Innovation", in 2025, open finance is accelerating across the region, with Brazil leading the implementation, Chile finalizing regulations under the Fintech Law, Colombia publishing a mandatory regulatory decree, and Mexico expanding API offerings amid a developing framework. 

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇧🇷 UME, the Brazilian company offering banking infrastructure and embedded finance solutions for retailers, raised $21.8 million in a Series B round to give bank-like power to retailers. The round was led by existing and new institutional investors and will fund expansion of financial services offerings, regulatory compliance, and tech scaling.

🇧🇷 Kamino, the Brazilian company specializing in digital banking, raised $10 million in a round led by Flourish Capital and Quona Capital, with participation from other investors. The capital will be used to expand operations and product offerings.

🇧🇷 Asaas, the Brazilian all-in-one company for SMEs providing tools for invoicing, collections, accounts, and cash flow automation, raised $6.55 million in a funding round led by Vivo Ventures, Vivo's Corporate Venture Capital (CVC). 

💵 Debt 

🇲🇽 Mattilda, the Mexican company specializing in school financing solutions, secured a $50 million credit line from Lendable, a global investment firm, to expand its services across LatAm. The company aims to enhance its platform that automates school fee collection and financial management, focusing on institutions serving low- and middle-income families in Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador. 

🇨🇴 Sempli, the Colombian company providing digital loans to SMEs, secured $10 million in debt financing from Banco de Occidente, Bancolombia, Banco AV Villas, Bancoldex, Fondo Presente, and Comfama. 

💰 Venture funds 

🌎 Accion Ventures, the nonprofit impact investor focused on financial inclusion, closed its second fund at $61.6 million to support early-stage fintech startups in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, LatAm, and the U.S. Accion Ventures has invested $59.4 million in 76 companies across more than 30 countries, including Indian non-banking lenders Aye Finance and Prayaan Capital.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🌎 dLocal, the leading payments platform connecting global enterprises with emerging markets, announced a strategic partnership with Western Union to enable digital payment methods across Western Union’s online platforms in Latin America.

🌎 Binance announced a strategic partnership with investment manager Franklin Templeton to develop new products and initiatives in the digital assets space.

🇧🇷 Sensedia, the Brazilian company specializing in APIs and integration solutions, announced a partnership with Malaysia-based identity verification provider Incore to bring its Open Banking technology to the Asian market.

🇵🇪 Do Payment, the Peru-based company specializing in pay-out and pay-in services, entered the Mexican market to strengthen its payment collection solutions.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking 

🇲🇽 Banorte renewed its alliance with Google Cloud for an additional three years to advance hyper-personalized banking in Mexico through the use of Artificial Intelligence.

🇲🇽 Citi announced that it is in discussions with clients to enable its blockchain infrastructure in Mexico, known as Citi Token Services.

🇨🇴 Banco de Occidente announced the implementation of Apple Pay for its credit services, enabling users to make payments directly through their devices.

🇲🇽Banco Azteca partnered with Remitly to enable remittance cash pickups at branches via QR code in Mexico—eliminating manual entry errors and streamlining the process. 

📜 Policy

🇦🇷 In Argentina, starting October 1, self-employed workers, merchants, and small business owners in Buenos Aires who receive payments through digital wallets will be subject to gross income tax withholdings, following the city’s adoption of the Information System for Collection and Control of Payment Account Credits.

🇵🇪 The Superintendence of Banking, Insurance, and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) of Peru announced that a new regulatory sandbox framework will soon be published, allowing the participation of non-regulated entities that do not collect public savings. 

🇲🇽 Mexico’s 2026 expense budget includes measures restricting banks from deducting three-quarters of the fees paid to the IPAB. Additionally, fintechs will be required to withhold Income Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) on the profits earned by their clients.

🇲🇽 Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) published amendments to general provisions applicable to Financial Technology Institutions (ITFs), aiming to align their accounting framework with Financial Reporting Standards (NIF).

🇧🇷 The Central Bank of Brazil approved measures requiring authorized account-holding entities, starting October 13, to reject payment transactions directed to recipients suspected of involvement in fraudulent activities.

📰 Other News 

🇧🇷 Rita Nobre was named Head of Digital Mortgage Credit at Doutor Finanças.

🇨🇴 Amazon acquired a stake in Colombian super-app Rappi via a convertible note of US$25 million, which gives Amazon the option to increase its ownership to 12% if certain performance milestones are met.

🇧🇷 Nubank overtook Itaú Unibanco to become Brazil’s second most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $ 74.5 billion and a customer base of 107 million in Brazil, 122.7 million total users. 

🇧🇷 180 Seguros, the Brazilian insurtech offering embedded insurance via APIs, raised $9.2 million in a combined equity and debt pre-Series B round led by 8VC, with participation from Monashees, Canary, and FJ Labs.

🇦🇷 Nubank has postponed its planned return into the Argentine market due to political and economic instability following recent elections.

📚 Deeper Reads

5 Digital Transformation Challenges Mexican CEOs Face

Hyperpersonalization has reached fraud: AI and open data transform cybercrime (ES)

Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are transforming digital banking in Mexico (ES)

37% of Colombians owe the 'drop by drop' and 79% use cash (ES)

World’s Best Companies of 2025

📣 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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