Pismo CEO and Co-Founder, Ricardo Josua, appeared on the London Fintech Podcast to discuss the impact of fintech in South and Latin America.
Speaking to the host, Mike Baliman, Ricardo said that frequently countries across the region are “lumped together” and treated as a single entity. This is despite the diverse range of cultures, geography, and politics.
Brazil and Mexico, however, often grab the lion’s share of both attention and venture capital. In 2020, Brazil accounted for almost 60% of all venture deals in Latin America.
“Although there are lots of countries in the continent, many do not receive attention from investors, and that means Brazil and Mexico have developed advanced fintech environments.
“Brazil has a very forward-thinking central bank and started enacting several regulations allowing new players to enter the market. They broke some of the duopolies that are very common in this region.”
Ricardo also talked about the rise of fintech in the region. He separated the services into two buckets: payments and rails, and lending structures. These are different problems being solved in equally diverse ways.
Maturity makes the difference
Regarding verticals in the market, Ricardo says regulation is crucial. Having a forward-looking central bank or fintech regulator makes a real difference, he says, and many initiatives in Latin America have driven innovation.
However, only some Latin American firms have made a significant impression outside the region, and Ricardo is happy to name Pismo one of those successes.
“Our solutions are unique and can solve problems for banks worldwide. It took us much less time to deploy our services in India than in Argentina, by almost an order of magnitude. Being geographically close counts for less than you think.
“The maturity of the rails and the players available for connections makes a much larger difference. There can be 1000s of opportunities in mature countries that can enable you to set up and get running.”
The London Fintech Podcast, created by Mike Baliman, has more than 700,000 downloads across 198 countries since its launch in 2014.
