Chile moves towards open banking

The Chilean Ministry of Finance is working on a law for fintech and open banking in Chile, to promote innovation in financial services and boost financial inclusion. Open banking is “the natural step” after financial portability, already in force in Chile, says the Minister, Ignacio Briones.

Citibanamex joins Pepsi for digital customer acquisition

Mexico’s Citibanamex is working with Pepsi and a lending fintech, Amigo Paq, to grow its client base among corner stores. Pepsi distributors will encourage the small business owners to open an account with Citi, which will allow them to accept payments through the CoDi platform subsequently to apply for loans through Amigo Paq.

Citi Ventures invests in Arcus

Citi Ventures, the US bank’s venture capital arm, bought a stake in Arcus, a Mexican fintech that offers payments, digital wallets and financial data services. Citibanamex hopes the minority acquisition will help it develop better digital payments solutions. The deal is Citi Ventures’ first investment in the country.

See also: With AI and open technologies, Banorte reinvents payments

Credicorp acquires Colombian microlender

Bancompartir, a Colombian microfinancier owned by Credicorp, has acquired Encumbra, a competitor. The new, merged institution, which has COP840tn (US $224m) in assets, and close to half a million clients, will adopt the Mibanco branding of Credicorp’s Peruvian microfinance business.

MercadoLibre grows more than 80% in the third quarter of 2020

The Latin American e-commerce giant reported net income of US $ 1.12 billion at the end of the third quarter, an increase of 85% compared to the same period of the previous year, driven by the acceleration of online purchases. Currently the platform has more than 76 million active users.

See also: Innovation strategy: BCP targets SMEs and young people

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