Latin America has suddenly become the hottest place on earth for Fintech.. And everyone wants a piece of it
Fintica
Last year, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru dominated the fintech landscape in the region. Brazil was the largest fintech market in the region in terms of investment, volume of alternative finance, and number of deals. The majority of fintech investment in Brazil was in digital banks and payment services firms, the report says. Colombia had the second-highest volume of investment while Mexico had the second-highest number of deals. Chile held second place in the volume of alternative finance. According to the report, major deals in 2019 included the $1 billion investment in Colombia’s Rappi(logistics and distribution), the $725 million investment in Argentina’s Prisma Medios de Pago (payments), the $400 million investment in Brazil’s Nubank (payments institution), and the $100 million investment in Mexico’s Konfio (lending), according to data by KPMG and LAVCA. source: labsnews.com
The landscape of the fintech industry in Latin America
In 2018, 1166 fintech startups were reported in 18 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, distributed between 11 business domains, as shown. The most represented domain is payments and remittances (22%) due to the increase in mobile phone usage (67% in 2017) and the need for cheaper, more efficient payment solutions at a time where electronic commerce is booming.
The second most common domain is lending (18%) due to the lack of credit history, making it difficult to use normal banks, as previously explained. 15% of startups are geared to enterprise financial management, which is justified by SMEs’ need to follow the shift to digital finance. Digital banks come last with 2,2% of business domains, but it is also growing the fastest.
