How Provenir aims to conquer Latin America's booming fintech market

US analytics group Provenir is targeting Brazil, Mexico and Colombia as it seeks to grow and get a slice of Latin America’s booming fintech and digital payments markets, regional VP Jose Luis Vargas told BNamericas.

Founded 20 years ago, the company provides AI-based risk assessment software and business intelligence for over 150 fintech companies, digital banks and financial services providers in 50 countries. It reports 4bn transactions processed annually on its platform.

The company entered Latin America last year, spotting opportunities as the region leapfrogged financial and banking digitization during the pandemic.

“We really started to build up a local team and kick-start business in the beginning of 2022,” said Vargas, who previously held executive positions at US analytics company Fico.

In Latin America, Provenir is focusing on specific customer profiles rathern than volume, he said. Preferred customers are larger online-only banks and fintech companies with cross-border operations, traditional banks’ digital units and retailers venturing into financial services. 

Provenir employs around 30 professionals in Latin America, most workign in the three core countries, and has 15 clients, “around 10% of our global base,” Vargas said. The company aims to obtain 20 customers this year and 30 by end-2024.

ALSO READ: The Digitization of Latin America's Financial Services 

“Our focus has been to locally serve the three most important markets for us: Brazil, as the first priority, Mexico and Colombia. Nearly 90% of our team is located in these three markets. We understand that it is relevant to serve Latin America closely and in its own language,” said Vargas.

The company also reports customers in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Central America and the Caribbean, according to Vargas.

This regional base encompasses brands such as BBVA, Colombia’s Davivienda and its digital arm Daviplata, Mexico’s Kueski S.A.P.I. de C.V., SOFOM, E.N.R. and Brazil’s credit-focused Provu and Jeitto, he said, in addition to the fintech operations of large retailers in Mexico, Chile and Peru, among others.

"We support these companies making better decisions in terms of credit, operations."

Provenir competes with Fico, Serasa Experian and TransUnion, although it also partners with the latter in certain segments. Other partners include Brazil's credit bureau Quod.

Vargas sees Provenir's unified and “full cloud-native platform,” with no legacy system or siloed software, as its main advantage. The company is "agnostic" about cloud, but runs mostly on AWS and Microsoft Azure architecture in Latin America.

By being in the cloud, he said, Provenir can quickly start to support a Brazilian client who expands to Mexico. "And this is an actual case unfolding right now."