In the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is seeing the emergence of a burgeoning fintech industry, a thriving ecosystem that has risen on the back of supportive regulatory initiatives and ambitions to improve financial inclusion. With 55 active fintech companies, the Dominican Republic was identified by a new report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to be one of the most dynamic fintech markets in the Caribbean. This ecosystem has blossomed these past couple of years from the mere two fintech companies it hosted back in 2017, figures which imply an impressive average year-on-year growth rate of 129%, the report says.…

The fintech ecosystem in Latin America (LatAm) has risen quickly over the past couple of years with sustained growth observed in all segments and in the number of active fintech companies, a new report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Finnovista shows. But across all major categories, it is digital banking, technology/IT and infrastructure, as well as insurtech that have witnessed the strongest growth. As of the end of 2021, the LatAm and Caribbean (LAC) region was home to 2,482 fintech companies. The region’s largest economies, Brazil and Mexico, accounted for more than half of the total number of…

Digital agreements security company OneSpan announced its Mobile Security Suite (MSS) has earned the coveted title of “Best Mobile Security Solution” for the 2022 SC Awards. Held by the CyberRisk Alliance and its flagship brand SC Media, the SC Awards are recognized throughout the security industry as the gold standard of excellence in cybersecurity. Mobile fraud attacks continue to accelerate as mobile devices, and mobile applications become more popular for conducting transactions and completing agreements in today’s anywhere economy. According to Verizon’s Mobile Security Index 2022 report, 61% of companies in 2021 suffered a compromise involving a mobile device, while…

Super apps may be widely popular in Asia and quickly gaining ground in Africa and Latin America (LatAm), they have little chance to succeed in the US because of lacking consumer interest, cultural barriers as well as data privacy and security concerns, a new report says. In a new blog post, Ron Shevlin, chief research officer of advisory firm Cornerstone Advisors, looks at the rise of super apps in parts of the world, delving into the drivers that have contributed to their success and making a case that replicating that success in developed economies like the US is going to…

American multinational company FIS has launched its new central infrastructure payment solution, RealNet Central, to help central banks transform their markets to digital-first, real-time payment economies. With real-time payments increasing, many countries must either modernize outdated payments infrastructure or build entirely new real-time payments networks to move money faster. Currently, 72 percent of the world’s population has, or will soon have, access to instant payments, according to the 2022 Worldpay from FIS Global Payments Report. Many markets are also replacing or renovating their established real-time services, especially those that repurposed their corporate real-time gross settlement (RTGS) services to cater for…

Dutch payments firm Adyen announced the launch of its first in-house designed terminals which was designed to facilitate diverse payment use cases. The terminal range marks the latest step forward in Adyen’s growing unified commerce offering. The devices run on Adyen’s single platform, which enables end-to-end control, tailored payment flows, and high speed of innovation at the point-of-sale. The first terminal in the suite is the NYC1, the most affordable and flexible device within the in-person payment range. The device enables businesses to offer a fully customised payment flow in their own point of sale app. It’s ideal for businesses…

Remitly Global, a global digital financial services provider for immigrants and their families, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rewire, an Israeli-based financial services platform for migrant workers. Under the terms of the agreement, Remitly will acquire Rewire for approximately $80 million consisting of a mix of cash and stock. Founded in 2015 with offices in Amsterdam and Tel Aviv, Rewire’s remittance platform builds deep customer relationships and is geographically complementary to Remitly. Rewire’s customers create an account with which money can be stored to be remitted at any time. This approach deepens relationships with customers…

Venture capital firm Votorantim and Singapore’s Temasek announced a strategic partnership to explore new investment opportunities in growth capital in various sectors of the Brazilian economy. By the terms of the agreement, Votorantim and Temasek will be partners in a new investment fund, in which both parties have committed to invest up to US$700 million (about R$3.6 billion). With more than 100 years of history in Brazil, Votorantim is an investment holding companies in Latin America, holding stakes in businesses across various economic sectors, including building materials, financial services, renewable energy, metals & mining, real estate, infrastructure, and agriculture. Meanwhile,…

CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, announced it plans to further expand its cryptocurrency derivatives offering with the introduction of Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures on August 29, pending regulatory review. Designed to match their U.S. dollar-denominated counterparts, Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures contracts will be sized at five bitcoin and 50 ether per contract. These new contracts will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin-Euro Reference Rate and CME CF Ether-Euro Reference Rate, which serve as once-a-day reference rates of the euro-denominated price of bitcoin and ether. These new futures contracts will be listed on…

Starting this week on Instagram, Meta is testing digital collectibles with select US creators and collectors to share NFTs that they have created or bought. Meta/Instagram will do then the international expansion to 100 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas. Additionally, they now support wallet connections with the Coinbase Wallet and Dapper, as well as the ability to post digital collectibles minted on the Flow blockchain. In order to post a digital collectible, all you need to do is connect your digital wallet to Instagram. As of today, they support connections with third-party wallets including Rainbow,…

Binance and Mastercard announce the launch of Binance Card in Argentina to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and everyday purchases. Argentina is the first country in Latin America to have the product. The Binance Card is part of the company’s ongoing efforts towards furthering global cryptocurrency adoption in a tangible manner. The product is in beta phase and will be widely available in the coming weeks. The Binance Card issued by Credencial Payments will allow all new and existing Binance users in Argentina with a valid national ID to make purchases and pay bills with cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and BNB,…

Stori, a rapidly growing fintech company offering credit card products to Mexico’s underserved population, today announced its latest round of financing of $150 million, which values the company at $1.2 billion. As a result of this latest round of financing, Stori now joins a select group of Mexico-based companies to achieve “unicorn” status. Stori’s latest Series C-2 financing comes just nine months after raising one of Latin America’s largest Series C rounds and includes a $50 million equity investment from BAI Capital, GIC, and GGV Capital, along with participation from other existing and new investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, General…

TIFIN, a fintech platform using artificial intelligence (AI) and investment-driven personalization to shape the future of investor experiences, announced its initial launch into international markets through the acquisition on SharingAlpha, a community of over 15,000 professional fund investors and analysts located throughout the world, but with a high concentration in the UK and Western Europe. SharingAlpha offers professionals the opportunity to build their own personal track record in terms of both their fund selection and asset allocation capabilities. Investors can gain the community’s intelligence on funds’ chances of generating alpha in the future from the collective knowledge gathered on the…

Adyen has officially launched Tap to Pay on iPhone, which allows businesses to use iPhones to accept contactless payments without the need to purchase or manage additional hardware. By partnering with NewStore, businesses including Vince and Burton can accept payments with a simple tap of a customer’s iPhone. Adyen is also partnering with New Black to enable this capability for retailers including G-Star and Scotch & Soda. In addition to offering the solution to partners, Tap to Pay on iPhone will also be made available directly to retailers and platforms including Nike, Lightspeed Commerce Inc, and Fresha. “We’re excited to expand upon our partnership with NewStore and Adyen…

Peru’s fintech industry is expected to get a boost this year, driven by favorable regulatory developments and rising demand for more accessible and inclusive financial services. Javier Salinas, director of Emprende UP, the center for entrepreneurship and innovation of the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru, expects the sector to grow from 171 fintech companies, as of September 2021, to more than 200 this year. A third of these companies will be coming from overseas, significantly exceeding the 10% share they held a year ago, Salinas shared with local newspaper Gestion earlier this year, an influx which will be fueled…

In Argentina, the central bank is paving the way for open banking, introducing new regulation and initiatives to encourage digital payments and enable interoperability. New measures for regulating virtual wallets were adopted in May 2022 by the board of Banco Central de la República Argentina, the country’s central bank. The rule mandates banks, fintechs, payment services providers and digital wallet administrators to provide their customers with the ability to link other accounts. This ultimately means that customers will be able to carry out payments and transfers through one particular digital wallet but using funds deposited in another account. Banks will…

iCapital, a fintech platform for alternative investments and investors, announced that the Bank of America has made a strategic investment in the company. Bank of America invested in iCapital at the same valuation as iCapital’s last funding round in December 2021. No additional terms of the transaction were disclosed. This move deepens the partnership between both entities that began in 2018. iCapital said that it will use the investment to continue to build out the technical capabilities of its global alternative investing solution that supports more than US$130 billion in platform assets. In March 2019, iCapital acquired Bank of America’s…

Prime Trust, a leading provider of financial infrastructure for fintech and digital asset innovators, announced that it has raised over $100 million in its Series B funding round. To date, Prime Trust has raised more than $170 million in funding and has become a category leader in infrastructure services for some of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, on ramps, wallet apps, ATSs, RIAs, broker dealers and banks. A mix of new and existing investors have participated in the funding for the company’s Series B, which includes FIS, Fin Capital, Mercato Partners, Kraken Ventures, Commerce Ventures, William Blair & Company, Decasonic, University Growth Fund,…

Fraud prevention platform SEON announced a new partnership with credit risk specialist Provenir to help organisations build better fraud prevention solutions. Through this partnership, Provenir provides an AI-powered decisioning platform that can assess risk in areas like identity, credit, and fraud. The Provenir Marketplace provides organisations with a one-stop data hub that makes it easy to access information covering open banking, KYC/KYB, fraud, credit risk, verifications, social media, collections, affordability and more. This comprehensive fintech data and business intelligence ecosystem brings together offerings from data vendors around the globe into one cloud solution for data consumption. Meanwhil, SEON’s system can…

MoneyGram has partnered the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) with to initiate the roll out of  its crypto-to-cash service that is now available in key remittance markets, including Canada, the U.S., Kenya, and the Philippines for the first wave of users. According to MoneyGram, global cash-out functionality is expected to be available by the end of June 2022. Powered by the Stellar blockchain and Stellar-enabled digital wallets, MoneyGram’s retail agent network, and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), a fully-reserved dollar digital currency, the service provides cash users access to cryptocurrency. Users of the Stellar-connected digital wallets Vibrant and LOBSTR, with more wallets…