Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The Latin American financial landscape is no longer a “sleeping giant.” Today, it is a laboratory of global innovation. In a recent episode of The Fintech Podcast, Franco Zurita, Co-founder and COO of Monnet Payments, sat down to discuss the monumental shifts occurring in the region. From the “Pix-ification” of national economies to the grueling challenges of cross-border scaling, Zurita’s insights provide a roadmap for any fintech looking to thrive in 2026 and beyond.
Franco Zurita,“Transactional data allows you to be more efficient. It lets us find payment and consumption patterns—by industry, by hour, or by ticket size—which helps us suggest changes to route transactions or avoid fraud.”
Cofounder of Monnet Payments.
The genesis of efficiency: Solving the refund crisis
The story of Monnet Payments began with a specific, painful friction point in the Chilean market. Despite Chile being a highly banked country with high credit card penetration, the infrastructure for reversals and refunds on debit or bank transfers was archaic: while a credit card refund took 24 hours, a bank transfer refund could take up to 21 days.
“We saw this opportunity not only in Chile but across the region,” Zurita noted. This led to the birth of Monnet in 2020, initially focusing on helping airlines and retail giants manage these “pay-outs” or refunds. Today, that mission has expanded into a massive regional operation covering payroll, provider payments, and commissions; essentially any bulk payment from a company to an individual.
The real-time revolution: Beyond the hype
The last year has been defined by one word: acceleration. The dream of real-time payments is becoming a mandatory standard. Brazil’s Pix has served as the ultimate catalyst, proving that a centralized, open-access infrastructure can bring millions into the digital economy overnight.
We are now seeing the “Pix effect” ripple through other markets:
- Peru: The interoperability between Yape and Plin is breaking down the walls of closed-loop digital wallets.
- Colombia: Implementing the SENA (now Breve) system to unify real-time transfers.
For a provider like Monnet, being at the forefront of these pilots is essential. The goal is to ensure that whether a customer uses a wallet, a bank transfer, or a QR code, the transaction feels instantaneous and invisible.
The hidden complexity of regional scaling
One of the most profound insights from Zurita is the “illusion of proximity” in LatAm. While countries share borders and often a language, their financial “rails” are worlds apart.
“The biggest challenge is replicating what you’ve done well in one country in a new one with completely different bureaucracies and customs,” Zurita explained. Monnet currently operates in nine countries (including Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Brazil) and plans to reach 12 markets by the end of the first half of 2026, adding Paraguay, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic.
To manage this, Monnet employs a dual strategy:
- Inorganic Growth: Acquiring local players with superior products, as they recently did with a provider in Chile to accelerate their roadmap.
- Organic Growth: Deepening local connections with banks and regulators.
💡Franco said…
“The biggest challenge is replicating what you’ve done well in one country in a new one with completely different bureaucracies and customs”
The checkout obsession: Where conversion lives or dies
For any merchant, the “moment of truth” is the checkout. In Latin America, conversion rates often suffer not because of a lack of intent, but because of friction. Zurita highlighted that many bank transfer methods in the region still require seven or eight steps (a process that has been “normalized” but is ripe for disruption).
Monnet’s technical focus is on checkout optimization. By reducing a four-step process to one or two, they directly impact the merchant’s bottom line. As the market becomes more demanding, the winner won’t just be the one with the most connections, but the one who offers the most seamless user experience (UX).
Data and IA: The modern shield and sword
As payments move to real-time, the window for detecting fraud shrinks to milliseconds. This is where Artificial Intelligence and Transactional Data Enrichment become critical.
By analyzing patterns—transaction hours, ticket sizes, and industry-specific behaviors—fintechs can now:
- Improve UX: Using historical data to suggest the user’s preferred payment method instantly.
- Route transactions smarter: Sending a payment through the rail most likely to approve it.
- Prevent Fraud: Identifying anomalies before the capital leaves the account.
The road to 2027: Interoperability and beyond
When asked about a “Unified LatAm Payment Network,” Zurita remains a pragmatist. While a formal, government-mandated regional rail is unlikely in the short term, private interoperability is already here.
We are seeing private players create bridges that allow a Brazilian tourist to pay with Pix in a Chilean shop via QR codes.
Monnet’s roadmap includes launching virtual accounts—a revolutionary step that offers global clients (from the US, Europe, or Asia) a single entry point into multiple LatAm markets.
The conversation with Franco Zurita makes one thing clear: the future of fintech in Latin America is about removing the seams. Whether it is through smarter data, faster rails, or simpler checkouts, the goal is to make the movement of money as fluid as the information that drives it. For companies like Coinscrap Finance, this evolution presents a massive opportunity to provide the data intelligence layer that will power this new, accelerated economy.
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