Depay also prioritizes offering more cost-effective alternatives to its users, promoting greater financial inclusion, and democratizing access to the most innovative payment services.
Joaquín Fagalde,“We offer the service in the countries where QR plays a key role in commercial transactions. We connect all these separate interoperable systems with an API to provide service to any wallet.”
CEO & Founder of Depay.
From intrapreneur to CEO: The origin of Depay
Joaquín Fagalde was not always in fintech. After completing his studies in Economics, his career began in the corporate world. He worked for AB InBev, one of the largest breweries in the world. During his time at the company, he led a crypto project in 2020 that sought to enable large-scale cryptocurrency payments.
“I spent a year and a half trying to get a company the size of AB InBev to accept crypto payments, but we couldn’t find anywhere in the world an infrastructure that could do it efficiently“, commented Fagalde.
The lack of solutions in the market led him to found Depay, with a clear objective: to build payment rails that would allow large companies to process cryptocurrency and digital money transactions in Latin America.
The challenge of payments in LATAM: Informal economy and low banking penetration in certain regions
One of the biggest challenges in the region is the high dependence on cash. According to Fagalde, this is due to two key factors:
- Informal economy: Some countries in Latin America have a high percentage of transactions outside the banking system.
- Low banking penetration: Millions of people still do not have access to digital accounts or formal financial services.
However, digitalization in Latin America is growing, and fintechs are playing a key role in this transformation. QR payments have been a great catalyst for change, allowing businesses and consumers to access more efficient and cost-effective payment solutions.
Interoperability and cross-border payments: Depay’s proposal
Depay’s vision is ambitious: to create a borderless payment network that allows instant transactions across Latin America. Today, the fintech already enables users to pay in stores in other countries with their local currency. For example, an Argentine with pesos in their digital wallet can scan a QR in Brazil and make a payment without needing to exchange money or use a credit card.
“We can receive pesos in Argentina and leave soles in Peru in seconds. We can receive Colombian pesos and convert them into Chilean pesos almost in real time”, explains the CEO. This system is based on blockchain and interoperable payment rails, which allows cost reduction and the elimination of unnecessary intermediaries.
Depay allows any local or global wallet to integrate into its platform and make payments in Latin America. The countries where interoperable systems exist today are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia, but the list continues to grow.
Cryptocurrencies as an alternative to credit cards
In addition to QR payments, Juanjo was interested in the crypto payment infrastructure that Depay has developed for acquirers and traditional payment processors. Thanks to this technology, any merchant that accepts card payments can enable cryptocurrency payments without needing to manage digital assets directly.
“Acquirers can process crypto payments and receive settlement in their local currency at the end of the day. They do not have to handle cryptocurrencies at any time; we take care of the entire process”, Joaquin assured.
This solution is designed for banks, acquirers, and payment processors, not for end users, making it a solid and scalable alternative to traditional card networks.
“We offer blockchain-based payment rails,” he indicated. “Instead of connecting POS terminals with banks, we connect the terminals with crypto wallets. We are not a wallet; we are simply a rail that enables this type of payment.”
QR payments: Why they succeed in LATAM and not in Europe
Unlike markets such as Europe or the U.S., QR payments have grown exponentially in Latin America. Fagalde attributes this success to economic reasons rather than cultural ones.
- Processing costs: In Europe, accepting card payments costs between 0.3% and 0.5% for a merchant. In Latin America, it exceeds 2.5%, making QR payments a cheaper alternative.
- Settlement times: In some countries, a merchant may take up to 30 days to receive payment for a credit card transaction. With QR, money is credited instantly.
- Interoperability: In LATAM, digital wallets have driven QR payments at no cost to merchants, promoting adoption. Account-to-account payments thus become much more agile and without intermediaries.
The future of Depay: Borderless payments and greater financial inclusion
Looking ahead, Depay’s CEO has a clear vision: to make the company the main payment rail across Latin America. “We want anyone to be able to send money from their wallet in Argentina to one in Peru in seconds. Someone in Colombia should be able to pay a bill in Mexico without complications. Our goal is to interconnect Latin America with instant payments,” states our guest.
The road is not without challenges. Regulations vary in each country, and in many cases, technology advances faster than the laws. However, Depay actively works with banks and regulators to ensure the security and transparency of its system.
“Banks are key allies. We rely on their infrastructure and licenses to develop solutions that benefit the entire region.” They have banking partners in every country where they operate, and the benefit is mutual, as large corporations take advantage of their constant innovations and new use cases.
💡 Joaquín Fagalde said…
“In Latin America, there are other factors when it comes to the massive adoption of digital banking, such as lack of trust, high tax pressure, and technological solutions that do not reach 100% of the regions.”
Are we witnessing the payment revolution in LATAM?
Depay is leading a revolution in digital payments in Latin America, combining blockchain, interoperability, and cryptocurrency payments to create a network of instant and borderless transactions. The emergence of new use cases presents a constant opportunity for this fintech.
Its growth demonstrates that the financial transformation in the region is already underway, with solutions that seek greater inclusion, lower costs, and more efficiency for consumers and merchants.
As digitalization progresses and more people gain access to digital financial services, companies like Depay will play a key role in the future of money in Latin America.
Will this be the fintech that connects the entire region? We will surely bring you the news very soon! Thank you for listening, and stay tuned to our social networks for more exciting episodes of The Fintech Podcast.
