Friday Briefing: Brazil rivals UK in open banking roll-out

#Strategic Plays 📊

‘The opportunity to build scale’

How can fintechs and banks build profitable business models on the back of digital payments? Executives from PayPal, Yape and Mercado Pago talked about their strategies in the webinar “Digital Payments: Building success stories based on financial inclusion“, organized this week by iupana.

Increasing the use of virtual channels for financial services –starting with payments– creates a spark to launch more, profitable business strategies.

“The ability to make payments has to be a cost that you assume as a company,” said Marcelo Alzamora, financial inclusion leader at Yape, Credicorp’s digital wallet, the most widely used in Peru. “But it’s an investment too, because the payment platform is what gives you the opportunity to build scale. And that is where you can offer value-added products that can generate income.”

For all the insights from the event, including the views of Mercado Pago and PayPal executives, see the event coverage here.

Banco Galicia will accept tokenized crops to grant credits

Banco Galicia and the fintech Agrotoken partnered to boost financing for agricultural producers using blockchain technology. This means farmers can turn their crops into digital collateral. This is a sample of a trend that is taking off. We dive into the tokenization of agricultural assets, in this analysis.

Also…

• kubo.financiero, in Mexico, began paying interest weekly to users who use its investment platform.
• Bamboo, a payments platform, partnered with Uber-competitor inDrive to enable instant payments for app users in Argentina, Chile and Peru.

#Financial results🪙

Nubank profits boom, Velez sells shares

Brazilian neobank Nubank’s profits grew 53% in the second quarter, compared to the first three months of the year, as it recorded an unadjusted net profit of US$224.9 million. The neobank has been reporting positive results in the last four quarters, driven in part by a growing user base: 49% of the adult population of Brazil is already a Nu client and in July they reached 85 million users across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.

However, the 90-day delinquency rate for its main product – credit cards – also continues growing and reached 5.9%.

After the disclosure of the results, its CEO, David Vélez, sold a 3% stake in the company for a total of US$191 million. The proceeds will go to his welfare foundation, he said.

#Investment💰

Klar nabs US$100m line of credit

Mexican fintech Klar raised a credit line for US$100 million from Victory Park Capital, to expand its loan portfolio. The fintech presented its paid account a few weeks ago. We recently spoke with Klar CEO Stefan Moller to learn about their plans.

Also…

• In Brazil, wealthtech Beacon raised US$2 million in a round led by SaaSholic and angel investors such as Sergio Furio, founder and CEO of Creditas.

#People🫂

dLocal hires former Mercado Libre financial director

Uruguayan unicorn dLocal hired Pedro Arnt as its new co-CEO. His appointment impacted the fintech’s shares, which rose 32% at the close on Tuesday. Arnt was previously financial director of Mercado Libre for 12 years. Arnt joins current co-CEO Sebastián Kanovich.

Kushki launches country manager for Colombia

Adriana Henríquez joins the Ecuadorian unicorn Kushki, as country manager in Colombia. The executive has experience in companies such as PayU and Avianca.

#iupanaExclusive 🔥

Is there a business opportunity for banks in carbon credits? Banco do Brasil thinks so. This week, the bank reveals its interest in expanding its presence in the issuance and management of carbon credits, seeking to attract investment for conservation projects, such as reforestation and sustainable agriculture:

• Brazil leads in the issuance of these bonds that seek to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions.
• Banco do Brasil seeks to expand participation in the CO² business, focusing on conservation projects and sustainable agriculture.

We have all the details in our iupanaExclusive this week