Fintech Expands Its Footing - Issue #547

The Focus

When a company buys a bank, it usually makes headlines for what it gains: assets, customers, market share.

But sometimes the real story is in what it signals.

That’s exactly the case with Revolut’s pending acquisition of Argentina’s Banco Cetelem — a minor lender with just over $6 million in assets. On paper, the deal is small. But what it reveals about fintech expansion in 2025 couldn’t be bigger.

Because in today’s market, the play isn’t disruption. It’s permission.

Around the world, fintech firms aren’t just building new products. They’re applying for licences. Acquiring charters. Locking down full regulatory approval. And not as an afterthought — but as the strategy.

In Argentina, where post-crisis reforms are redrawing the financial system, Revolut isn’t launching with a pilot or beta. It’s entering with a licence — and a commitment to operate under the rules of the system it once sought to outpace.

That shift is everywhere.

Whether it’s Allaria, Ualá, or MercadoLibre in South America — or newer entrants across MENA, Southeast Asia, and Europe — the next phase of fintech is being defined not by code, but by compliance.

Our latest newsletter breaks it down: why licences now signal credibility, not constraint. Why the ability to secure approval is the new moat. And what this tells us about where fintech is going next.

The licence is no longer a formality. It’s the foundation.

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