Klar Raises $190 Million as Latin America Goes Cashless

Mexican FinTech Klar has reportedly raised $190 million in new funding.

The company’s Series C round, led by private equity firm General Atlantic, values Klar at more than $800 million, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (July 1).

According to the report, the funding comes as Klar works to accelerate product development as it bills itself to legacy institutions by offering lower-cost, app-based financial products for consumers and small businesses.

“With the recent breakthroughs in AI, we now find ourselves able to build today what we once thought wouldn’t be possible until 2050,” Founder and CEO Stefan Moller Alvarez del Castillo said, per Bloomberg. “This funding gives us the fuel to get there even faster.”

The report cited data from Mexico’s statistics institute showing that cash is still the country’s dominant payment method, used daily by more than 70% of adults. However, card/bank transfer usage is on the rise, up four percentage points between 2021 and 2024.

As Bloomberg noted, the number of FinTechs aiming to compete in Mexico has grown recently, with companies such as Plata and Argentina’s Ualá raising funds this year, though adoption of formal financial products has been slow.

The news follows a report from late last year that Klar was eyeing the end of 2026 for a possible initial public offering (IPO).

Recent research from PYMNTS Intelligence shows that Latin American consumers are increasingly embracing digital payments with mobile devices, especially digital wallets and real-time transfer apps, emerging as the preferred method for payments.

“Experts anticipate this momentum will continue, with digital payments projected to capture transaction value in the coming years,” PYMNTS wrote last month. “Cash use has seen a decline over the past decade, a trend expected to persist as digital alternatives offer convenience and accessibility. While credit cards remain a prominent payment method, they too are ceding ground to the adoption of digital solutions.”

The report, titled “Digital Developments: Charting Digital Payment Growth in Latin America,” also includes projections from experts who say digital payments will represent 66% of online purchase value and 49% of in-store transaction value in Latin America by the end of the decade. This is an increase from 48% and 30%, respectively, last year.

In addition, the research found that cash’s share of in-store transaction value plunged from 67% in 2014 to 25% in 2024. This share is forecast to drop to 17% by 2030, indicating a preference among consumers for cashless methods.