LatamList – Ualá, Argentina’s largest neobank, is to expand into merchant services in Argentina, aimed specifically at SMEs. The move will put Ualá in direct competition with MercadoPago, the current leading payments provider in Argentina.
Ualá recently launched into Mexico in partnership with Galileo where it is already issuing over 1,000 cards a day. The new business services include 100,000 mobile POS units and the ability for small companies to charge via payment links.
“We have stopped being just a payments app and are now a full payments ecosystem, moving beyond the individual accounts and services to small businesses,” said Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder and CEO of Ualá.
Ualá experienced significant growth during the global pandemic as more people turned to online banking. The startup aims to provide affordable banking and financial services in a country where 87% of transactions are still done with cash.
The fintech is set to continue scaling and hire 500 new staff during 2021. Barbieri also expects the company to break even in Argentina by 2022.
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