Fintech industry grows 340% in Latin America and the Caribbean

Bogota—The Fintech sector, which comprises companies that use technology for financial services, grew 340% between 2017 and 2023 in Latin America and the Caribbean and now exceeds 3,000 startups, according to a study published Thursday.

Specifically, it went from 703 companies in 18 countries in 2017 to 3,069 in 26 states in 2023, according to a report published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the company Finnovista in the framework of the fifth annual meeting of FintechLAC, held in Bogota.

The study indicates that this growth “is due to the high demand from financial consumers, the state of the financial digital infrastructure, and the availability of a specialized workforce.”

Brazil continues to be the region with the highest number of fintech startups, with 24% of the total, followed by Mexico (20%), Colombia (13%), and Argentina and Chile with 10% each.

The countries that grew the most in this area in the last two years were Peru, with 5.3% of the number of companies, followed by Ecuador (3%) and the Dominican Republic (2.1%).

The latter, along with Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, can be considered emerging markets in the Fintech ecosystem and are developing “with remarkable dynamism,” the IDB said in a statement.