As of April 2023, there were 1,000 active fintechs in Latin America (LatAm) with a vast majority focusing on financial inclusion, tackling the issue of 70 per cent of the population not having access to formal financial services. Em Conversa looks to uncover what the future of fintech could look like in the region, following a $2.1billion valuation in 2022.

In March 2024, emerchantpay, the global payment service and acquirer, solidified its position in the LatAm market by partnering with fintech, FitBank. Exploring how this partnership fits into the company’s grander LatAm vision, we sat down with André Boesing, vice president of international business development and head of Latin America at emerchantpay.

In 2002, emerchantpay was founded out of a need to better support merchants who were finding it difficult to navigate the quickly evolving payment landscape. Today, the business has evolved into a leading global payment service provider and acquirer for online, mobile, in-store and over the phone payments. emerchantpay empowers businesses of all sizes and in various industries – including e-commerce, retail, travel and hospitality – to optimise their payments. We have a presence in 19 different countries, including Brazil and Mexico.

As vice president of international business development and head of LatAm at emerchantpay, I’ve used my skill set and experience to help the company grow into a major cross-border payments player. Since stepping into the role in 2018, I’ve led huge global deals, helped the business to expand its operations in new markets and built strategic relationships with key stakeholders, André Boesing quoted.

In Brazil specifically, the opportunity for merchants is vast. Brazil has the fastest-evolving e-commerce market in LatAm – predicted to surpass $60billion by 2025. To accomplish business success in this market, global merchants need to understand the ins and outs of the local e-commerce landscape and customers’ purchasing habits.