With technology opening access to different types of financial solutions, creating new markets, and driving inclusion in Latin America, it is no surprise that projections for the fintech industry look promising. And venture capital investors are paying attention. With the consolidation it has achieved—driven by the leading role of digital payments and transfers—so far, and the new growth vectors emerging for the future, the market is closely watching the sector’s evolution.
While local dynamics within the region are shaped by different idiosyncratic factors, at an aggregate level, financial technology companies have been closing gaps in access to various financial products. The result is an industry that reached a market size of $15.23 billion last year, according to consulting firm IMARC Group.
According to the firm, a variety of factors are driving growth. While financial inclusion challenges create demand for accessible digital services, remittance flows require cost-effective transfer solutions. This is compounded by the proliferation of smartphones in Latin America and the regulatory support fintech firms have received in different countries.
Considering these ongoing trends and other growth drivers, the firm estimates that the industry will reach $54.01 billion by 2034. Between now and then, fintechs in the region are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 15%.
The favorite sector of the venture capital world
Financial technology holds a special place in venture capital portfolios, consolidating itself as their preferred sector.
A survey by specialized firms Startuplinks and Cuantico VP, conducted at the beginning of this year with the participation of 126 Latin American investors—including venture capital funds, CVCs, family offices, and angel investors—shows that 34.9% of respondents expect their next investment to be in a fintech company.
Moreover, the sector is attracting the largest funding rounds in the VC space. During 2025, according to the firms’ data, fintech companies accounted for 29% of financing deals but captured 61% of the invested amounts.
The fintech ecosystem, IMARC emphasizes, “continues to attract substantial venture capital investment,” promoting technological transformation and market expansion initiatives. “Brazil’s sophisticated digital payments infrastructure, Mexico’s progressive fintech legislation, and cryptocurrency adoption in Argentina reflect a variety of innovation paths across the region,” they note.
Payments and open finance as the epicenter
While the Latin American financial technology industry offers a variety of services—including investment management, crowdfunding, and factoring, among others—one segment is emerging as the core of the industry’s boom: digital payments and open finance.
Fitch Ratings highlights that instant payments and open finance are becoming “central pillars” of fintech expansion in Latin America. “They are accelerating payment digitalization and facilitating large-scale data sharing, especially in Brazil, which has the most advanced ecosystem in the region,” the rating agency states in its latest report on the sector.
IMARC data supports this view. As of 2025, payments and fund transfers stand as the dominant segment in the fintech space, with a 45% market share. This, they note, has been supported by unmet demand—by traditional banking—for convenient, accessible, and cost-effective transactional capabilities.
Another important factor is the increasing penetration of technology in people’s financial habits across the region. Data from the World Bank Group shows that 37% of adults in Latin America and the Caribbean had a mobile account in 2024 (latest available data). This figure increased by 15 percentage points compared to 2021. In addition, the region stands out in the share of online shoppers who pay digitally: 27% of adults shop online and 87% use digital payment methods.
Future drivers
Looking ahead, the development of fintech industries will take shape according to the particular characteristics of each market in the region. Given that regulations, market dynamics, and levels of banking penetration vary from country to country, the context will be decisive for the future expansion of the sector.
“In some markets, fintechs have experienced strong growth. In others, they still play a limited role in increasing credit penetration, due to structural barriers such as high cash usage and high regulatory costs,” Fitch notes. These costs, they explain, “can limit product diversification and the ability to scale to a broader offering.”
However, this does not mean there are no general trends attracting Latin Americans. “Evolved fintechs” and financial infrastructure are among the startup segments that VC investors are watching most closely, according to the Startuplinks and Cuantico VP survey.
Specifically, regional capital is closely monitoring B2C neobanks, embedded finance infrastructure, real asset tokenization, and liquidity-providing fintechs, according to the study.
IMARC also adds payment digitalization initiatives, credit scoring methodologies using non-traditional alternative data, and blockchain-based remittance solutions as key growth drivers going forward.
