Tagged: latam

May 15, 2020 @ 7:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Colombia-based Fintech firm Minka has secured $3 million in capital through a funding round led by Fintech Collective. Colle Capital Partners, the Collaborative Fund, multinational firm Carvajal Tecnología y Servicios, and Mastercard also took part in Minka’s latest round. The Fintech company said it… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 4:00 pm By Craig Dempsey  |  

The first case of Covid-19 in Latin America was diagnosed in Brazil at the end of February. Since then, the number of cases has soared into the thousands in at least 20 countries. In response, many countries have implemented strict social distancing policies, requiring businesses… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 7:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A potential $5 million online heist in Brazil had attempted to target Spanish financial giant, Banco Santander, however, it was reportedly stopped after the money was seized from local over-the-counter (OTC) digital currency exchanges. The alleged thieves had tried to convert the stolen money into… Read More

May 7, 2020 @ 7:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Estonia-headquartered AskRobin, a Fintech firm that manages a financial services marketplace for underbanked Latin American clients, has secured $1.7 million in capital. AskRobin’s seed round received contributions from several venture capital funds, including BENE Asia Capital, Change Ventures, Lemonade Stand, and Vereeni Early Stage Fund…. Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 12:50 pm By Andrés Abumohor  |  

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially to the global economy. They now make up 90% of businesses and 50% of employment worldwide. In emerging markets, SMEs are propelling development by introducing new products, processes, and competition. Although it is difficult to gather and track… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 2:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Uruguay-based dLocal, a Fintech firm focused on facilitating international transactions, has reportedly added Google Pay as one of its local payment options. As mentioned on dLocal’s official website: “dLocal [aims] to close the payments innovation gap that exists between developed countries and emerging economies. We… Read More

April 12, 2020 @ 4:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Venezuela-based digital currency exchange Criptolago has confirmed that it will introduce a text message-based payment platform that can handle transactions in Venezuela’s controversial (allegedly) oil-backed Petro (PTR) cryptocurrency and other major digital assets. The new payment system could potentially help Venezuela’s residents with transacting in … Read More

April 4, 2020 @ 1:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Four of Brazil’s financial regulatory agencies are working cooperatively to create a blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-enabled data-sharing platform, which will conduct background checks on the nation’s political representatives and private corporations. The platform, called PIER, was reportedly created by the country’s reserve bank,… Read More

March 30, 2020 @ 7:30 am By Andrés Abumohor  |  

Small businesses in emerging economies are notoriously underfinanced. Despite making up over 99.5% of the economy in Latin America, SMEs face a financing gap in the trillions of dollars. For example, up to 78% of small businesses in Argentina and 45% in Peru struggle to… Read More

March 29, 2020 @ 3:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is alleging that several Venezuelan leaders and politicians, including President Nicolas Maduro, took advantage of their positions, financial systems, and virtual currencies to conceal and carry out criminal activity for more than two decades. An indictment released on March… Read More

March 25, 2020 @ 9:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Credijusto, a Mexican Fintech firm, has revealed that it has secured $100 million in debt from Credit Suisse Group, a Switzerland-based multinational wealth manager, investment bank and financial services company. Credijusto says that it acquired the capital in order to issue more loans to SMEs… Read More

March 19, 2020 @ 9:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset exchange Binance has introduced peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading options which support five major Latin American fiat currencies. Traders that use Binance’s P2P exchange will be able to purchase and sell digital currencies directly with the Argentine peso (ARS), Brazilian real (BRL), Colombian peso… Read More

March 11, 2020 @ 8:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mexico-based Fintech firm Clip is introducing another payment method, called “Clip Total.” Adolfo Babatz, the company’s co-founder, said that the new payment solution is like having a “point of sale [system] in the palm of your hand.” During a recent presentation, Clip’s management shared an… Read More

February 17, 2020 @ 11:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SoftBank, a Japan-based global conglomerate holding firm with over $283 billion in assets, will reportedly be adding another $1 billion this year to its $5 billion Latin America Fund, which was launched last year. The Tokyo-headquartered company added $1.6 billion to the fund in 2019…. Read More

February 16, 2020 @ 10:58 am By Timothy Li  |  

Part 7 of a series of articles covering the fast-emerging Fintech ecosystem in Latin America. First I want to thank FinnoSummit and LendIt and all the attendees to give us a glimpse of what’s coming to this all so important part of the world, Latin… Read More

February 3, 2020 @ 7:31 pm By Timothy Li  |  

Part 6 of a series of articles covering the fast-emerging Fintech ecosystem in Latin America. When we look at Latin America’s Fintech scene, it conjures up memories of the U.S. Fintech evolution that took place during the past decade. Or perhaps, the past decade and… Read More

January 27, 2020 @ 7:00 am By Timothy Li  |  

Part 5 of a series of articles covering the fast-emerging Fintech ecosystem in Latin America. Technology is often the driver for massive social and economic change. We’ve seen this play out in North America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Particularly in Asia and Africa, the pervasiveness… Read More

January 22, 2020 @ 10:30 am By Andrés Abumohor  |  

On October 19, 2019, Chile’s capital city of Santiago was in flames. What started as a student movement to evade subway fares has since launched into a widespread movement against socioeconomic inequality that has swept, and in some cases paralyzed, the country for well over… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 11:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

CrediTú has had mortgage assets placed in the market via a AAA long-term bond. The placement totaled $30 million with a 30-year term. The mortgage-backed bond was said to be the first from a nonbank entity in Chile since 2009. CrediTú is described as a… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 8:20 am By Timothy Li  |  

Part 4 of a series of articles covering the fast-emerging Fintech ecosystem in Latin America. During the inaugural FinnoSummit addressing innovations in financial services in Latin America (LatAm), the speaker and audiences settled on a big issue; infrastructure and digital transformation. Most of the Latin… Read More