Miranda’s Weekly Mex FinTech Monitor 

Miranda’s Weekly Mex FinTech Monitor 

 September 25, 2023   

 

Mexico FinTech News 

 ERP and credit platform Kapital acquires Banco Autofin  

The expense management and credit platform Kapital announced that it would acquire Mexican bank Banco Autofin México (BAM), investing an initial $50 million, while the deal waits for regulatory approval. Once complete, the purchase is expected to result in an alliance with the parent company of the bank, Grupo Autofin. The CEO of BAM, Carlos Septién, believes the move will infuse new dynamism into the bank, with Kapital’s funds strengthening the bank’s offering for SMEs with digital solutions. As a result of the acquisition, Kapital will have access to the bank’s existing clientele and be able to offer new financial services to its customers with a banking license. 

El Financiero, 09/18/2023, Jeanette Leyva Reus: Banco Autofin México es adquirido por Kapital por 50 millones de dólares 

 Regulators preview Walmart’s new digital wallet  

Authorities made known that the digital wallet Trafalgar would soon begin operations under the new name Cartera Digital Walmart. It is expected that with the acquisition, which was first announced in April, Walmart de México will enable for its clients digital payments related to its portfolio stores (Bodega Aurrerá, Sam’s Club, Walmart Express and Walmart Supercenter), digital payments via wallet on its websites, and the payment of utilities from the wallet 

 Other news 

El Economista, 09/18/2023, Sebastian Estrada: La CNBV autoriza a Arcus de Mastercard como IFPE 

Bloomberg Línea, 09/22/2023, Michelle del Campo: FEMSA contrata a directivo de Nubank para encabezar su segmento digital 

 

LatAm FinTech News 

 Brazilian FinTech expands to India  

Brazilian payments processor Ebanx announced it would expand into the Indian market as part of its global expansion strategy. The move follows its entry into three African nations last year, marking its first foray outside of Latin America. Ebanx aims to enable global merchants to offer popular local payment methods to Indian customers, starting with the popular real-time payment method Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and cards. According to a company spokesperson, Ebanx sees significant opportunities in India’s growing digital payments and e-commerce sectors and intends to expand into other Asian markets within a year. The company had previously postponed plans for a US IPO but still considers it a possibility in the future. 

 WeBoost launches US 80 million fund 

Chilean venture capital firm WeBoost has unveiled a new $80 million fund with plans to invest in 24 startups aiming to expand across Latin America. This marks the second fund raised by the VC firm. Although the fund has not yet reached its full investment target, it is anticipated that it will be comprised of equal funding from the Chilean government and private investors from the United States, Europe and Japan. Notably, this marks the second growth fund focused on Latin America launched this year, following the June announcement of Bicycle Capital 

 Other news 

 

Global FinTech News  

 BBVA invests 20 million euros in Spanish FinTech  

Spanish bank BBVA, through its startup branch, announced that it would invest 20 million euros in the FinTech Payflow, which allows workers to receive their earnings normally paid in 15-day or monthly increments, as frequently as daily. Payflow intends to leverage the financing to accelerate its growth plans, hoping to grow 10x. The FinTech currently operates in Spain, Portugal, Colombia and Peru.   

 Monzo and BlackRock partner to offer ETFs 

Within two days, more than 200,000 of NeoBank Monzo’s customers joined the waitlist to access a BlackRock investment offering, expected to be launched in the coming weeks. The product will allow approved customers to access three BlackRock ETFs, presenting careful, balanced, and adventurous investment options. According to the Financial Times, the interest demonstrates the potential opportunity for asset managers to work with banks in the growing digital retail market. That said, analysts believe that Monzo’s younger digital-only customer base will likely invest very little initially with the initial investment set at one euro.   

Financial Times, 09/19/2023, Ed Moisson and Anna Devine: Monzo clients rush to sign up for BlackRock offering 

 Other news  

Yahoo! Finance, 09/18/2023, Zheping Huang and Lulu Yilun Chen: Ant to Pull Out of $100 Million Fund in Retreat From Crypto