Miranda’s Weekly Mex FinTech Monitor

Miranda’s Weekly Mex FinTech Monitor

October 30, 2023  

 

Mexico FinTech News

Finerio raises US $6.5 million to create an open finance ecosystem in Latin America

Mexican FinTech open finance startup, Finerio Connect, has raised $6.5 million in funding to advance its open finance platform, offering personalized financial services access. Third Prime led the investment, with participation from strategic investors such as Visa, Bancolombia Ventures, and Krealo, Credicorp’s venture capital arm, along with others like Alaya Capital, Gaingels, Plug and Play, and Winklevoss Capital. The additional funding will support key hires, expansion of the API-based platform to two more countries, and overall increased usage. Founded in 2018 by co-CEOs Nick Grassi and José Luis López, Finerio Connect aims to facilitate financial data exchange across Latin America.

Nu México wants DiMo to be for Mexico what Pix has been for Brazil

Nu México wants its make Dinero Movil (DiMo) one of the favorite payment methods of Mexicans, just as Pix, developed by the Central Bank of Brazil, has become among Brazilians. DiMo, recently launched by Mexico’s Central Bank in September, will allow users to link phone numbers to their bank accounts, enabling real-time transfers and electronic payments. Nu believes that DiMo could help revolutionize the Mexican payment system, which is currently dominated by traditional banks. The fintech expects the payment method to be adopted by a wide range of users, from individuals to small and large businesses.

 

LatAm FinTech News

Colombian government paves the way for 10 more sandboxes 

The Colombian government announced it would create 10 regulatory sandboxes to test innovative products and business models in the FinTech, AgroTech, EdTech, and TravelTech spaces, among others. The sandboxes, which will be overseen by the Ministry of Telecommunications and comes on top of the Financial Oversight Commission’s (SFC) sandbox. The SFC sandbox has been a model for the region with 26 companies and 18 innovative projects having participated, of which four have been given the green light to operate in the country’s public financial markets. In comparison, even five years after Mexico’s sandbox, was first announced as part of the country’s novel Ley Fintech, no fintech has been approved to participate.

Itaú Unibanco and embedded finance company partner to bring Pix to the rest of LatAm

Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco has announced a partnership with Inswitch, an embedded finance company with operations in over 40 countries, to allow Brazilians abroad to use the Brazilian real-time payment system Pix throughout Latin America. By scanning the QR code at the physical point-of-sale, Brazilians will be able to pay for goods and services using Brazilian reais, with interchange fees handled behind the scenes by Inswitch. The partnership seeks to expand Pix use throughout Latin America.

Other news

 

Global FinTech News 

Poor Worldline earnings hit other PayTechs

Worldline, the leading Paris-based European payments company, saw its stock crater 50% when it reported poor third quarter earnings. Affirm, Block, PayPal, Adyen all declined in sympathy. Worldline blamed poor market conditions in Germany, not strictly relevant to the other names, and VISA, a better global proxy, affirmed a positive outlook.

Flourish Ventures secures $350 million in new capital 

Early-stage global venture capital fund Flourish Ventures announced $350 million in new capital to invest in the U.S. and emerging markets. The fund which focuses on the fintech sector, was founded in 2019 and currently has US $850 million under management, backing 71 startups across five continents. Recently, it invested in Brazilian NeoBank Neon. The firm seeks to back companies that demonstrate new or better ways of doing business.

Payments drive open banking boom in the UK 

According to Open Banking Limited (OBL), the volume of open banking payments in the UK doubled in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year, with a new record of 9.7 million payments made in June. The organization highlights that payments are driving the overall usage of open banking and expects payments to overtake data use cases. OBL chairwoman Marion King highlighted that there was still much more to be done to optimize the full benefits of opening baking within retail banking markets and beyond.

Other news

TechCrunch, 10/18/2023, Paul Sawers: From zero to Employment Hero

The Wallstreet Journal, 10/25/2023, Denny Jacob: UPS Buys Reverse Logistics Company Happy Returns From PayPal