Friday Briefing: Women, the key to success in fintechs

March 10, 2023

#TopStory 🔝

International Women’s Day: Do fintechs help narrow the gender gap?

Women have only three quarters of the economic rights enjoyed by men, and at least 2.4 billion women around the world lack equal opportunities, according to the World Bank.

These figures underline how far there is still to go to achieve gender equality, notwithstanding the improvements of recent decades. However, digital finance represents an opportunity to address the problem with
products and services that promote financial inclusion.

“The issue with technology and fintech is that by not physically having the person on the other side, all biases or prejudices are avoided,” Amparo Nalvarte, CEO and founder of Peruvian digital bank B89, told iupana.

“The machine doesn’t care if you’re a woman or a man,” said Nalvarte, a recipient of iupana’s Disruptoras 2020 award, which recognizes the most innovative women in digital finance in Latin America.

Digital savings and credit have been shown to have a direct impact on the economic independence of women and, consequently, on their
quality of life, too. A study by Tala —a financial technology company that uses data to issue emergency mobile loans in Mexico, the Philippines, Kenya and India— found that 58% of women who received microloans gained influence in decision-making at home.

“The statistics say that women are more reliable payers: They are more committed to their debts and their payment dates,” adds Nalvarte.

The data also show the number of women running fintech startups is growing. In Latin America, women account for approximately 40% of all fintech founders and CEOs,
according to a study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Finnovista.

Nevertheless, Nalvarte points out its important to get more money behind women-run businesses in the sector to power their growth. “The main challenge for women founders of startups or fintechs is to raise more or larger amounts of funding,” she says.

#Strategic Plays 📊

Banco do Brasil joins Pix Open Finance

Banco do Brasil (BB) now allows customers to make loan repayments using  their savings with other financial institutions via Pix Open Finance. BB is the first bank to integrate the tool into its system.

Walmart set to buy Mexican fintech

The Mexican arm
of US retail chain Walmart received regulatory approval to buy a digital payment company. While it didn’t reveal the name of the company or the size of the deal, Walmart said it expects to release more details in the coming weeks. The retailer already operates a mobile payment application in Mexico, Cashi.

Kushki set to operate as acquirer in Mexico

Ecuadorian payments unicorn Kushki registered as an acquirer with the Mexican regulator, the National Banking and Securities
Commission. The move is part of strategy to expand operations in the country.

Also…

• In Chile, crypto exchange Buda.com is getting ready to enter the payments business with the creation of a card issuing subsidiary.
• In Argentina, travel portal Despegar teamed up with Binance and Inswitch to offer customers the option of paying for products and services with cryptocurrencies.

#Investments 📈

Avista raises US$22.5M for lending

Avista, a Colombian credit fintech, obtained US$22.5 million in debt financing from Accial Capital. It plans to use the proceeds for lending to senior citizens and people in rural areas.

#People🫂

CryptoMarket names two women to top posts

Chilean fintech CryptoMarket appointed lawyer María Juppet its new CEO. Juppet will lead the platform’s growth strategy, focused on the use of digital assets as a means of payment and investment in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The exchange also named journalist Denise Cinelli country manager for Brazil.

Nu Brasil signs Meta alum

Nubank said David Marcus has joined its board of directors in Brazil. Marcus is CEO and co-founder of Lightspark, a cryptocurrency startup, and has extensive experience in the tech sector, including stints at Meta and PayPal.

#iupanaExclusive 🔥

Moving from theory to practice? The general idea in the industry is that embedded finance can catapult product conversion, be it into payments or loans. On the ground, however, implementation faces commercial, legal and technological challenges. MODO, Galileo, and Unnax share their thinking.

• Banking is still in the exploratory stage of business models that use embedded finance.
• There’s a need for good communication with companies outside the banking sector to promote the opportunities offered by embedded finance.
• LatAm regulators need to do their part by facilitating integration via APIs.

Want to to better understand the reality of embedded finance in the region? Find out more in this week’s iupanaExclusive.