The Inter-American Development Bank in collaboration with Finnovista has recently published the second edition of “Fintech: Innovations You May Not Know Were from Latin America and the Caribbean”, a report that measures the evolution of the Fintech sector in the LAC region.
This second edition includes the results of a survey conducted among 39 Fintech start-ups operating in 18 Latin American countries (namely Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela). The study shows a very fast growth of the sector: while the 2017 edition identified 703 Fintech start-ups in 15 LAC countries, the new report registers 1166 start-ups in 18 countries across the region, representing an increase of 66%. The most active sectors are: payments and remittances (24%), lending (18 %), enterprise financial management (15 %) and these data are explained by the massive diffusion of mobile devices. The report also finds out that 86% of Fintech activities is concentrated in 5 countries: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile while the country with the lowest diffusion of Fintech start-ups is Venezuela with its 11 businesses representing 1 % of total.
This edition also explores issues that were not analysed in the first edition such as cybersecurity and gender at the industry level and in the context of women’s financial inclusion. In addition a newly introduced section on Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic offers an overview on ecosystems where opportunities and challenges are emerging.
Read the whole report at this page.
Source: Inter-American Development Bank
