On a par with Africa , Latin America looks set to become the next biggest emerging market for fintech in the world . Investors from the UK , Europe , and USA have recognised the region as a hotspot and are pouring capital into local companies , while M & A is also rife . The result is a high growth trajectory that is tackling the unbanked population .

Latin America demographics With a population of approximately 650 million people – and an estimated 325 million of them currently unbanked , the region offers rich pickings for ambitious fintech companies . Data shows that there is also above the global average rate of home internet penetration , with 66 % of households with connectivity . Mobile internet usage also sits at 75 %. The UK payment solutions company Paysafe recently acquired the Peruvian fintech , PagoEfectivo , and will now extend its service across that marketplace .

Fintech funding in the region 2021 has been an excellent year for fintech in Latin America . The total amount of capital invested in the sector by the end of quarter two reached an all-time high of $ 7.6bn – exceeding 2020 ’ s total of $ 2.9bn two-fold . Much of the recent growth in the region ’ s sector can be attributed to the pandemicinduced acceleration of digital payments .

� SALTPAY Investors can ’ t get enough of the UK payment solutions fintech , SaltPay , which secured a cool $ 470mn of funding from backers in the first half of 2021 .

� EBANX The US-based payment solutions provider EBANX has secured an investment of $ 400mn from Advent International and an additional commitment of US $ 30mn to the company ’ s planned IPO . The company is looking at expanding into Latin America .

� KLARNA The fintech ’ s operating losses have soared from SKr89m ($ 10mn ) a year earlier to $ 111mn as credit losses more than doubled in the second quarter . Klarna was consistently profitable in its first 14 years but has been lossmaking since 2019 as it has expanded rapidly , particularly in the US .

�ROOT Since going public in October 2020 , Root ’ s stock has fallen in value by 79 %. The most recent quarter ’ s revenue took a hit and its net loss was four-fold compared to the same quarter last year .

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