Latin America’s Fintech sector is exploding, growing 340% in six years:

A study released on Thursday found that the Fintech sector, which includes companies using technology in financial services, in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by 340% between 2017 and 2023, surpassing 3,000 startups.

The number of companies increased from 703 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 Finnovista at the fifth annual FintechLAC meeting in Bogotá.

According to the study, this growth “is driven by high demand from financial consumers, the state of digital financial infrastructure and the availability of specialized labor.”

Brazil remains the country in the region with the most fintech ventures at 24% of the total, followed by Mexico (20%), Colombia (13%), and Argentina and Chile with 10% each.

The countries that saw the most growth in this area over 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 noticeable dynamics,” the IDB said in a press release. At the regional level, the most prominent segment is payments and remittances.

Fintech ventures in Latin America “are focused on people and businesses who are unbanked or have no access to banking services, demonstrating the sector’s positive impact on financial inclusion,” the text says.