minute reads

The Challenges of Fintech in LATAM | MADE IN LATAM EP10

Blog summary by AI

In this blog post, Joel Zambrano, CEO of Vita Wallet, shares insights on building and scaling a regional fintech across Latin America. He describes the company’s evolution from exploring Bitcoin and in-person payments in 2019 to focusing on cross-border business payments, emphasizing constant experimentation and adaptation. Key challenges include communication pitfalls—foreign companies often assume Spanish translation is sufficient, but each country has distinct slang and cultural context. Zambrano also highlights LATAM’s operational complexity due to multiple currencies, financial systems, and economic dynamics, requiring daily flexibility in treasury, collections, and payment distribution. He underscores the need for an entrepreneurial mindset, embracing change and strategic pivots based on market realities. The episode concludes with a playful look at how the same phrase can have different meanings across Latin American countries.

In this episode, Joel Zambrano, CEO of Vita Wallet, shares what it takes to build a regional fintech across LATAM and scale operations in markets with very different realities.

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Joel walks us through the evolution of Vita Wallet, from its early days in 2019 exploring Bitcoin use cases and in-person payments, to its shift into a platform focused on cross-border payments for businesses. This journey has been marked by constant experimentation and the need to continuously adapt the business model as the market evolved.

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The conversation goes deeper into the communication challenges in the region. Joel explains that one of the most common mistakes foreign companies make is assuming that translating messages into Spanish is enough. However, each country has its own slang, expressions, and ways of interpreting ideas, which forces brands to rethink how they communicate depending on the local context.

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Another key point is the view of LATAM as a complex but highly attractive region for doing business. He highlights how multiple currencies, financial systems, and economic dynamics create significant operational challenges on a daily basis, especially in areas like treasury, collections, and payment distribution.

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Throughout the episode, Joel also reflects on the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset in fast-changing environments. Building in the region requires flexibility, adaptability, and a willingness to accept that plans may not always work, which forces constant strategic adjustments based on market realities.

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The episode closes with a dynamic on Latin American slang and expressions, showing how the same phrase can mean completely different things depending on the country — sometimes even confusing native Spanish speakers themselves.

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