Argentinian FinTech MODO Launches Instant Payments, Eyes BNPL

MODO, a virtual wallet solution popular in Argentina, has launched an instant payments feature and is exploring a buy now, pay later (BNPL) product, iupana reported Monday (Sept. 12).

A public-private project with the participation of more than 35 banks in Argentina, MODO allows users to keep track of all their different accounts in one place, make payments and access offers, cashback and rewards.

Representing more than 95% of the country’s financial institutions, MODO clients pay a fee to use the platform and can build their own apps on top of the technology, passing on the functionality to their end users without having to build everything from scratch in-house.

As MODO’s product manager, Pablo Scoglio explained, “We manage the whole payment experience from MODO … we develop everything in one place and it is distributed to all the apps, obviously each one with the setup of its brand, its colors, its typography, its experience.”

As iupana reported, BNPL is gaining traction in Latin America, where even large banks such as Peru’s BCP and Argentina’s Banco Galicia are getting in on the act.

Last month, PYMNTS reported how Kontempo has raised $30 million in a seed round to continue expanding its BNPL solution for B2B transactions in Latin America.

Read on: Kontempo Raises $30M to Expand BNPL for B2B Transactions in LatAm

The FinTech will use the capital to grow its team, develop its merchant network and improve its technology. Previously, the company had 26 merchant partners in Mexico, who between them sell to roughly 100,000 small and midsized business (SMB) buyers that can use the BNPL product.

In Argentina, allowing users to apply for a BNPL loan through the MODO app creates an opportunity for banks to capitalize on its growing popularity with Argentinian consumers. Since its launch in 2020, the mobile wallet has attracted more than 3 million users and has been adopted by 400,000 shops throughout the country, neobanking reports.

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