Noticias FinTech México
Condusef September Loan Data: Gaining Some Momentum; NPLs up at Stori
Preliminary loan data from financial consumer watchdog Condusef showed slightly better loan growth in September, following a muted August. This was the first month without data from Nubank, following its start of operations as a bank. Stori’s total loans rose 3% MoM, closing the quarter up 4.7%; however, NPLs were up a high 14.6% MoM, leading to sequential deterioration in the unadjusted NPL ratio of 1.2 ppts, without considering potential write-offs. On the other hand, Klar saw total loans up 3.6% MoM, or 12.0% in the quarter; NPLs declined 1%, possibly due to write-offs, although this would need confirmation. Klar’s unadjusted NPLs are now a full 5.2 ppts below Stori’s, although different write-off policies may explain this in part.
BBVA Mexico seeks to strengthen mass-affluent offering with launch of Global Wealth platform
BBVA Mexico, the country’s largest bank, announced a restructuring of its offering aimed at the high-net-worth public; the bank is establishing a common structure across all its geographies, with three distinct brands, Premium, Private Banking and Ultra High Net-worth (UHN). Its initial goal in Mexico is to grow that customer base from the current 180k clients to 240k by 2029, leveraging 123 dedicated branches and over 2k private bankers.
While as a clear market leader BBVA holds relevant shares across most segments (see Playing Offense from a Position of Strength, March 2026), the move would seek to reinforce its position in the mass-affluent segment, the type of customers who might not ask to use the helipad when stopping by the office, but still hold much higher-than-average balances; as well as BBVA, the market leader, they typically use the services of legacy banks such as Inbursa, Banamex (Priority level), Banorte (Preferente level) and HSBC (Premier level), as well as full-service brokers like GBM and Actinver.
El Economista, 10/7/26, Edgar Juárez: BBVA launches new stage for its private banking business | Other sources: Comunicado de prensa de la empresa.
Mexico Trade credit fintech Kontempo raises $10.5mn
Kontempo, a Mexican fintech specializing in industrial trade credit, has raised US$10.5 million in a Series A round co-led by Portage and IGNIA, with participation from Tectonic, MS&AD and other existing investors, to expand its software and artificial intelligence tools for managing sales on credit. The October 6 financing addresses a recurring problem: industrial buyers need materials before their customers pay them. Suppliers consequently extend payment terms, tying up cash and assuming repayment risk.
Kontempo provides systems to assess buyers, establish credit limits and administer transactions. Suppliers can finance customers themselves, ask Kontempo to finance, or arrange insurance covering some or all the risk. The latest release emphasizes that its software can be used independently of its financing. When Kontempo provides the credit, generally suppliers receive payment when a transaction is processed; buyers can repay over up to 90 days. Suppliers can absorb platform and transaction fees or pass some to buyers, subsidizing an initial interest-free period and charging for longer terms.
The proposition combines working-capital services with software for finance departments. Recurring purchases generate transaction histories that inform underwriting alongside financial data, cash flow and credit behavior. Those relationships also provide referrals, helping Kontempo reach other businesses within supply chains and use the data to steadily take better credit decisions. Suppliers can organize credit decisions and payments in one system. Whether outsourcing makes sense for suppliers will depend on fees, funding costs, losses and the expense of managing receivables internally.
Kontempo says it has processed more than US$180 million across over 50,000 transactions, with larger companies making up a bigger share of transactions than originally planned, presumably due to lower credit risk and greater formality. The announcement describes using AI applications to analyze structured financial data with non-traditional information, alongside helping with portfolio monitoring, collections and payment reconciliation. Kontempo is also developing AI-driven software agents to undertake tasks associated with credit analysts and collections teams. As with any lender, growth of the credit business will depend on funding availability and underwriting performance, but the capìtal-light transaction fee business will be driven by the effectiveness of its software and the speed of its adoption.
DPL News, 10/9/26: Kontempo raises US$10.5 mn for corporate loans.
Lectura adicional...
- Mercado Pago and Chubb join forces to launch insurance products for small businesses.
- Pomelo and DiDi broaden pre-paid card partnership to Mexico.
- Nafin launches program for SMEs to finance eco-friendly vehicles.
- Prudential Mexico, Brazil Units Draw Interest from MetLife, CNP.
- Kavak reaches $1bn in credit.
- Payjoy buys Mexico motorcycle credit startup Ozon.
Noticias de LatAm FinTech
Better-Than-Expected Performance by Bolsonaro Drives Major Relief Rally for Brazilian Equities
A stronger than expected showing by Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round of Brazil’s presidential elections led to a major relief rally for the country’s assets, as investors priced in higher odds of a change in government. The largest country ETF, the EWZ, surged to a record on Monday, and was up 14% over the week, extending its YTD rally to +36%. Fintech players saw major rallies in the week, cutting YTD losses: Inter was up 40% (-9% YTD), Nu rallied 20% (-4% YTD) and Mercado Libre surged 11% (-6%YTD); legacy giant Itaú rallied 18%, extending its YTD performance to +41%. The currency appreciated 5%, breaking the 5.00 psychological barrier on Monday for the first time since early June. “Nobody wants to miss this trade”, a portfolio manager quoted by Bloomberg succinctly summarized.
Bloomberg, 10/9/26, Vinicius Andrade: Once-in-a-Career Moves Stun Traders in Brazil Vote Frenzy.
Lectura adicional...
- Brazil’s Richest Banker Adds $2.7 Billion on Bolsonaro Rally.
- ‘Creative’ Laws Underpin LatAm’s Fintech Expansion.
- Asaas raises $55.6M FIDC to finance SMB receivables in Brazil.
Noticias mundiales sobre tecnología financiera
CFTC Moves to Regulate Leveraged Crypto Trading Without Congress
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed a rule that would bring leveraged, margined, and financed crypto trades offered to retail customers under its existing authority, and would create a new registration category for crypto exchanges that offer those products. The move is meant to fill the regulatory gap left after a bipartisan group of senators blocked the Clarity Act, the market structure bill that would have given the CFTC authority over digital assets classified as commodities. Chairman Michael Selig framed the measure as delivering clarity and consumer protections by folding crypto transactions into the agency’s national market framework. The proposal is open for public comment for 60 days.
Leaders at both the CFTC and the SEC have pledged to act through rulemaking in the absence of legislation, even though a future administration could reverse rules more easily than it could repeal a statute. The Trump administration is betting that broad industry adoption will make rollback harder. The rule would directly affect platforms such as Coinbase and Crypto.com, which already offer leveraged crypto trading, and Robinhood, which is preparing to launch crypto perpetuals with up to 10x leverage on some contracts.
Bloomberg, 10/5/26, Lydia Beyoud: CFTC Proposes Registering Crypto Exchanges Offering Leverage.
From Digital to Intelligent: BBVA Bets on AI Agents to Move Beyond Digital Banking
BBVA is betting that artificial intelligence can do for it what its digital transformation initiative did over the past decade. At a recent Strategic Talk, Chairman Carlos Torres Vila unveiled “The Frame,” a common standard for building, deploying, and governing AI agents across the group. The framework is meant to let teams launch agents faster without starting from scratch, with built-in controls on what data each agent can access, which actions it can take on its own versus with human oversight, and how its cost and business impact are measured. It is also designed to keep BBVA independent of any single model provider. Global Head of AI Transformation Antonio Bravo framed the competitive logic plainly: everyone has access to AI models, and the edge will go to banks that can integrate them at scale and manage them safely. BBVA wants to move from “digital banking” to “intelligence-driven banking,” and ultimately to a hybrid bank where employees and agents work side by side.
Early results give the plan some weight. In Spain, in-app assistants now filter more than half of the conversations that reach relationship managers. Voice agents in production pilots in Mexico and Peru resolve close to 90% of interactions. Complaint registration time is down nearly 80%, developer productivity is up about 28%, and 75% of employees use AI regularly, saving an average of 2.4 hours a week. Next up is Blue, a 24/7 multimodal financial adviser that will roll out gradually to retail and business customers in 2027, alongside expanded AI tools for commercial banking, CIB, risk, claims, and financial crime prevention. BBVA says it has cut significant tech incidents by 53% over three years. Close to two-thirds of its online transactions ran in the cloud in 2025, and it targets 90% by 2029.
Company press release, 10/6/26: BBVA creates a model to scale AI across the Group and drive its customer-centric transformation.
Lectura adicional...
- BIS chief warns soaring debt, market changes could complicate future crisis response.
- The tide of bank branch closures is starting to reverse.
- Why bank stocks are falling despite surging interest rates.
- HSBC plans sweeping job cuts across UK wealth business in AI push.
- Securitize launches blockchain-based stocks.
- Kalshi launches stock index perpetual future to expand product suite.
- Wise to Pay Some Customers’ U.K. Tax Bills After Software Error.
- Amex fined $350mn for failing to flag suspected money laundering.