Payments powerhouse Visa Inc. has made a significant step towards expanding its influence in Latin America by purchasing Brazilian fintech platform Pismo for $1 billion in cash. The transaction, which is the biggest fintech exit in the region since Nubank’s IPO in 2021, shows rising confidence in Latin America’s fintech industry despite a recent decline in financing.

THE ACQUISITION OF PISMO: The decision by Visa to purchase Pismo, a cloud-based financial platform with headquarters in Sao Paulo, demonstrates the company’s commitment to expanding its market share in Latin America. The Pismo platform, which supports financial institutions and handles more than $200 billion in transactions annually, is presently hosting over 70 million accounts. Visa will have access to Pismo’s robust technology basis through the purchase, making it simple for clients to issue Visa and Mastercard cards. Following the acquisition, which is slated to be completed by the end of the year, Pismo will retain its current management team.

VISA’S EXPANSION STRATEGY: This agreement marks Visa’s first sizable acquisition since the company paid $2.2 billion for each of the European open banking platform Tink and the British provider of cross-border payments, Currencycloud, in 2021. By acquiring Pismo, Visa hopes to expand its market share in Latin America, a region with tremendous untapped potential for fintech innovation and digital payments. The move is in line with Visa’s broader development strategy, which emphasises wise acquisitions to enhance its capabilities and offerings in diverse areas.