The number of cash-only consumers, or those without a financial account, has decreased substantially in Latin America (LatAm) over the past couple of years, plummeting from 45% in 2020 to only 21% in 2023, a new study by Mastercard and research firm Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) found. The research, which is based on in-depth interviews with 25 financial service providers operating in LatAm and online surveys of 2,815 individuals within seven major markets in the region, found that most LatAm consumers gained access to basic financial products between 2020 and 2023. Delving deeper into the types of products used, results…
Author: Fintech News America
Ramp, the finance automation platform announced a $300 million Series D on the back of strong revenue growth, rapidly increasing market share among small and mid-sized businesses, and successful expansion into the enterprise segment over the past year. The company will use this capital to further fuel its industry-leading pace of product development and accelerate its expansion into adjacent categories. In an uncertain macroeconomic environment, companies of all sizes and across all industries are more focused than ever on their bottom line. As businesses look for modern finance tools that help them operate more efficiently and profitably, Ramp has seen increasing…
LemFi (formerly Lemonada Finance), a Canadian fintech platform transforming financial services for immigrants, has raised a $33 million Series A round led by Left Lane Capital. Other investors included Y-Combinator, Zrosk, Global Founders Capital, and Olive Tree. Each year, millions of immigrants move abroad to start new lives, and the biggest hurdle they face is access to financial services. In 2020, Founders Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran joined forces to solve these challenges with a vision to build a platform that empowers the next generation of immigrants. Olalere and Cochran first met while building OPay – one of Africa’s most…
Thoma Bravo and ForgeRock announced the completion of Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of ForgeRock in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion. The acquisition agreement was previously announced on October 11, 2022, and approved by ForgeRock stockholders at ForgeRock’s Special Meeting of Stockholders held on January 12, 2023. Upon completion of the acquisition, ForgeRock stockholders are entitled to receive $23.25 in cash for each share of ForgeRock class A common stock and class B common stock they owned. ForgeRock’s class A common stock will no longer trade and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Thoma Bravo also announced that it has combined ForgeRock into…
Stripe announced a partnership with Google Workspace to power paid appointment bookings with Google Calendar. The new feature, which is built on Stripe Connect and Stripe Checkout, enables customers to pay for services directly while making a booking on a Google Calendar booking page. “Stripe makes it incredibly easy to accept payments directly from Google Calendar, so customers can complete bookings and make payments in seconds,” said Ilya Brown, vice president of product management at Google Workspace. With this new feature, businesses can connect their Stripe account, set a price, and then offer their clients the ability to book and…
Mexico’s startup ecosystem has made notable strides over the past years, facilitated by the country’s strategic location, the size of its market, and its language. Today, its capital city, Mexico City, is home to the majority of the nation’s startups, and even some unicorns, with fintech, in particular, emerging as one of the most promising sectors. Like the rest of Latin America (LatAm), the growth of Mexico’s fintech sector has been driven by a number of factors, including the region’s significant population of unbanked and underbanked, widespread adoption of smartphones and mobile Internet, and the introduction of conducive new regulations…
With robust financial markets, advanced infrastructure and technological prowess, North America has emerged as a hotspot for fintech innovation. The continent boasts a myriad of programs designed to propel startups to the top, providing the most promising tech-enabled businesses with critical resources to grow and connecting them with industry veterans, experts and potential investors. Today, we look at ten of the largest and most prolific fintech acceleration and incubation programs in the continent. These programs have established track-records of building up and supporting some of the world’s biggest and most successful ventures. Y Combinator Although not exclusively fintech-focused, Y…
Global payment giant PayPal announced the launch of a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin which will be available to consumers, merchants and developers to seamlessly connect fiat and digital currencies. PayPal USD (PYUSD) is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S Treasuries and similar cash equivalents. Eligible U.S. PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD (PYUSD) will be able to transfer the stablecoin between PayPal and compatible external wallets. They will also be able to send person-to-person payments using PYUSD, fund purchases with it at checkout, and convert any of PayPal’s supported cryptocurrencies to and from PYUSD. PayPal USD is issued by Paxos…
The global fintech sector is witnessing a slowdown in deal activity, with companies adopting a cautious “wait-and-see” approach. In the first half of 2023, only 128 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were recorded, compared to 248 and 188 in the first and second halves of 2022, respectively, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, a provider of multi-asset class data, research and analytics, show. Despite the contraction, firms remain interested in exploring options, preparing for potential deals when market conditions improve. According to the S&P Global Market Intelligence, several fintech segments are attracting merger and acquisition (M&A) interest, including payments, treasury management…
Latin America (LatAm) is experiencing a dynamic surge in fintech innovation, emerging as one of the fastest-growing regions in the space globally. As of April 2023, the region was home to about 1,000 active fintech companies with Brazil (466 fintech companies), Mexico (213) and Colombia (91) at the lead, data from Flagship Advisory Partners show. Brazil, in particular, has become a hotbed for fintech development, hosting today some of the region’s largest and most successful fintech ventures. Among these, eight have reached unicorn status, CB Insights data show, highlighting their staggering growth and investors’ bullishness in the prospect of Brazil’s…