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LatAm in Focus: The Future of Fintech in Argentina

By Luisa Horwitz

Ualá founder Pierpaolo Barbieri of Argentina explains how fintech is changing financial systems in Latin America.

In a region where a large portion of the population is underbanked, fintech offers an innovative solution for Latin America, paving the way for wider financial development, competition, and inclusion in the region.

In the case of Argentina, fintech startups are sprouting and spreading fast. Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder of the startup Ualá, talked with AS/COA Online’s Luisa Horwitz about what motivated him to make the financial system more accessible in Argentina, a country where more than half of people have never had access to a non-cash payment method. “What we try to do is democratize access to financial services,” says Barbieri, who in this episode also covers the generational divide when it comes to fintech, as well as what the sector looks like across Latin America.

“We don’t want to change the system from within; what we want is a new system.”

The Argentine entrepreneur explains that fintech is appealing to a population that does not traditionally trust banks. Compared to the rest of Latin America, Barbieri sees great work being done in Argentina, but says that there is much room for growth in the country and the region overall. “I would love to see more funds dedicated to Latin America—we are heavily underinvested as a region,” he says.

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The music in this podcast was performed at Americas Society in New York. Learn more about upcoming concerts at musicoftheamericas.org.

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