Galileo obtains a multi-market Mastercard certification in LATAM

According to the official press release, Galileo, as a Mastercard Engage partner, now has the capacity to provide services simultaneously in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. This is set to create the conditions for issuers, financial institutions, and fintechs to offer issuer processing services such as virtual and physical credit, as well as debit and prepaid cards.

News of this development comes as LATAM has shown a rising demand for Open Banking services. The partnership between Galileo and Mastercard is reportedly expected to lead to the growth of financial and non-financial digital transactions in LATAM.

Officials from Galileo have stated that the new certification makes it possible for Galileo to aid in the process of modernising payments for businesses in the local markets. They further emphasised that this is needed as existing players and new entrants are looking for a single suite of APIs that facilitates payments.

This is not the first time Galileo has taken steps to broaden its presence in LATAM. In 2022, the fintech revealed that it expanded into Colombia, and, prior to that, the company officially opened its regional headquarters in Mexico City.

Galileo’s strategy and past developments

Galileo Financial Technologies is a subsidiary of SoFi Technologies. The company operates in NA and LATAM, where it works with fintechs, financial institutions, and emerging and established brands to develop financial offerings.

Solution-wise, Galileo facilitates B2B payments through flexible APIs and supports issuing physical and virtual payment cards, mobile push provisioning, and financial products, among others.

Earlier in 2023, the company leveraged the Mastercard network to enable lenders to offer small businesses flexible financing options. The solution came as a response to a pain point that SMBs dealt with as – according to Mastercard’s research – around 43% of small business owners expressed concerns regarding effectively handling increasing expenses and 80% of them were looking into quicker and simpler solutions to gain access to capital in response to the evolving business environment.