Latin American open banking business Syncfy has secured $10 million to grow its user base.
The funding, which is part of a seed round led by Point72 Ventures, comes as digital payments gain popularity throughout Latin America.
The co-founder and CEO of Syncfy, Gerardo Trevio, stated in a news release that “the good feedback we’ve so far gotten from our consumers throughout Latin America has been astounding. With the funds we’re announcing today, Syncfy will be able to satisfy demand and reach even more partners in the area with financial automation.
The Syncfy platform gives users access to financial data from over 125 banks, digital wallets, tax authorities, utility providers, cryptocurrency exchanges, and blockchains spread across over 15 Latin American countries as well as other nations globally through a single API.
Some of its clients include large banks, business software suppliers like BBVA and Intuit, as well as startups like FinTech unicorn Clara.
The company says it would use the funding to expand its clientele in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia and to provide “payment initiation solutions in crucial countries, giving interoperable access to financial data as well as the simple movement of payments using API.”
In Latin America, the use of digital payments is growing quickly and is on pace to replace cash as the main method of payment, according to a recent report.
One prediction predicts that by 2020, there will be 67% more mobile bank accounts in Latin America, and QR code payments will also experience tremendous growth.
60% of the population of Brazil signed up for the Pix system’s first ten months, and since its inception in 2018, Argentina’s Mercado Pago has processed more than 8.5 million QR code payments.