The fintech sector has doubled in Latin America over the past four years: now has 2,482 signaturesaccording to a survey released Tuesday by the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank).

In this race, Argentina are fighting for third place along with Colombia, although it was eventually relegated to fourth place.

In size, Brazil (31% of all companies) and Mexico (21%) lead the fintech “ecosystem”. Colombia and Argentina share 11%, although the former has 279 companies and the latter 276.

Chile (7%) closes the group of most developed countries around this niche, while there is a range of “emerging” countries, such as Peru and Ecuador.

Despite being in third or fourth place in terms of value, Argentina comfortably ranks third in terms of receiving funds from abroad, behind Mexico and Chile. 61% of companies are funded by contributions from outside investors.

Argentina also stands out for the amount of fintech women among its founders (34%), behind Colombia among the countries with the most companies.

Regarding regulations, the IDB asked about the situation in each country. In Argentina, the response of entrepreneurs was that, though nearly 40% say regulation is adequate and 22% too loose, 71% think there is little openness to dialogue with the authorities who should set the rules.

sectors

Regarding the participation of fintech segments, payments and remittances (23%) at loans (18%) lead the region. This is followed by business technologies for financial institutions (14%), business financial management (10%) and personal (7%).

Insurance or insurtech (7%) has continued to grow in recent years with an offer that goes beyond comparisons and focuses on offering products directly.

Other emerging segments that could generate significant impact in the future are digital banks (4%) and open finance.

Despite the social and economic crisis caused by the pandemic, investment in fintech in the region reached more than US $ 1,600 million and be 40% of venture capital investment by 2021, according to LAVCA.

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