FINNOSUMMIT 2024: the meeting of people and technology, key to success in fintech
The 2024 FINNOSUMMIT event, one of the most significant fintech events in Latin America, focused on the role of the people driving these technologies, as well as addressing aspects such as their role in the region’s bankarisation. Rodrigo Velasco, head of BBVA Spark in Latin America and Mexico, participated in the meeting, held in Mexico City, to reaffirm the business unit’s commitment to the growth and scalability of technology companies in the region.
The fintech ecosystem has enormous potential to transform the lives of people in Latin America for the better. This was one of the conclusions of the 2024 FINNOSUMMIT congress, held at the El Cantoral auditorium in Mexico City a few days ago. Under the slogan “Fintech: made by humans, for humans”, the event’s main objective was to recognise the people who guide the development of value propositions in the field of fintechs.
The meeting, organised by Finnosummit, a Finnovista group company, sponsored by BBVA Spark, celebrated its 9th edition and has established itself as a forum for the exchange of ideas in the financial sector, bringing together more than 100 world-class speakers, more than 2,000 attendees and 2,500 networking interactions.
“Our goal has been to be the meeting point between people and technology, highlighting not only innovations, but also the stories of those behind them. We have included more human sessions, such as those that explore the personal stories of the founders and the challenges they face,” explained Andrés Fontao, CEO of Finnosummit. The edition was attended by prominent global leaders in the technology and financial ecosystem, such as Karla Berman, member of the board of directors of Mendel; Juan Guerra, CEO of Revolut in Mexico, and Sasha Dichter, co-founder and CEO of 60 Decibels, among many others.
“Instead of basing ourselves solely on trends, we have focused on the people who make them possible,” explained Finnosummit’s CEO, emphasising Finnosummit’s vocation to promote a more inclusive and dynamic industry in the context of the great growth that the ecosystem is experiencing in Latin America.
The data supports this dynamism: the fintech sector has registered a growth of more than 340% in the last 6 years, increasing 703 companies in 18 countries in 2017 to 3,069 in 26 nations in 2023, according to the ‘IV Fintech Report in Latin America and the Caribbean’ prepared by Finnovista and the IDB. Brazil is the country in the region with the most financial ventures (24%), followed by Mexico (20%), Colombia (13%) and Argentina (10%). In addition, fintechs lead venture capital investment in the region: they attracted 1.876 billion dollars in 2023, which accounts for 46% of the total volume and a higher figure than the next nine verticals combined, according to a recent LAVCA report.
The topics addressed during the 2024 FINNOSUMMIT covered key aspects of the transformation of the sector, such as artificial intelligence (AI), ‘open banking’, which promotes collaborations between banks and companies and new business models thanks to APIs, and embedded finance, which integrates financial services, such as payments or credit, directly into non-financial platforms.
Alliances between banking and fintechs
One of the highlights of the 2024 FINNOSUMMIT was the conversation between Rodrigo Velasco, head of BBVA Spark in Latin America and Mexico, and Adalberto Flores, CEO of Kueski, a leading Mexican fintech in the field of lending and “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) solutions.
The talk between the two delved into the alliances between fintech and banks as a driver of transformation and growth in the financial sector. “These alliances make it possible to combine the stability, experience and reach of banks with the innovation, agility and technological focus of fintechs, generating more accessible, efficient and personalised products and services,” explained the head of BBVA Spark in Latin America.
In this context, BBVA Spark presented itself as a strategic ally for these technology companies in Latin America. “Two years after its creation, BBVA Spark is a reference in the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. With more than 300 million euros in financing provided to technology companies, we have positioned ourselves as one of the main allies of scale-ups in Spain and Latin America,” said Velasco.
Venture capital and private equity funds are complementary partners, Velasco explained: “We work very closely with them and, together, we drive the growth of companies with ambitious goals. At Spark we offer financing alternatives, not capital; so the combination that is generated when we work closely with funds is very powerful.”
In addition to Kueski, BBVA Spark has already supported the growth of other fintechs in Latin America, such as Creze (Mexico), Cobre (Colombia) and Xepelin (Chile). It has also closed important financing agreements with scale-ups from different fintech fields in Spain, such as Payflow (flexible financing), Bit2Me (crypto) or Twinco Capital (supply chain financing).
Fintech and financial inclusion
Financial inclusion and the opportunity to bring the benefits of the financial system closer to unbanked segments was a central theme of the congress and speakers highlighted the potential of technology to eliminate the barriers that prevent millions of people in Latin America from accessing financial services.
“There remains an incredible opportunity in the region to digitise transactions and reduce reliance on cash. All of this will translate over the years into greater financial inclusion, more alternatives and, ultimately, greater freedom,” Velasco added. Some data is encouraging: mobile payments, between 2021 and 2023, grew from 6% to 10% as the preferred payment method in the region and 77% of consumers already make digital payments.
In relation to payments, the case of Mexico was specifically discussed, where only 49% of the population has a bank account and credit card penetration is only 12%, yet digital payments have experienced significant growth. The discussion also covered Argentina, where e-wallets accounted for 31% of the value of e-commerce transactions and 18% of point-of-sale spending.
“Financial inclusion has been one of the central themes at the 2024 Finnosummit because there is still a large part of the population that does not have access to financial services in Mexico, and in the rest of the region,” explained Fontao. The head of Finnosummit highlighted some of the solutions provided by industry leaders during the sessions, including “simplifying the user experience” by making these services “intuitive, easy to understand and available where people really need them”.
Fintech: A leading ecosystem that continues to grow in Latin America
Looking to the future, the experts gathered at the 2024 FINNOSUMMIT predicted that the accelerated growth of fintechs will continue over time. “In the coming years, we will see an expansion in the supply of digital financial services, especially in areas such as digital consumer payments, B2B payments and the application of artificial intelligence technologies,” Fontao said. And in that growth, the CEO of Finnosummit believes that collaboration between the fintech sector and banks will “strengthen the ecosystem” and “create more opportunities for growth in the region,” especially in the financial industry.
For his part, Velasco stressed that Latin America is currently one of the global epicentres of fintech development. “The opportunity for transformation in Latin America is exciting and unique in the world and from BBVA Spark we are fully committed to accompany and enhance the capabilities of high-growth technology companies in the region,” concluded the head of BBVA Spark in Latin America and Mexico.
