Tigo Money and Visa Team on Digital Financial Services in LatAm

Digital wallet Tigo Money has partnered with Visa on a regional agreement that aims to expand access to digital financial services across Latin America.

The agreement creates a new payment solution — the Tigo Money Visa Card — that is linked to the consumer’s Tigo Money wallet and allows them to use their digital money anywhere Visa is accepted, the companies said in a Monday (Nov. 21) press release.

“Our collaboration with Tigo Money is exciting, because it will help bring financial inclusion to a new level, unlocking opportunities to connect more people to the digital economy,” Eduardo Coello, regional vice president for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean, said in the release.

Available free of charge through the Tigo Money mobile app, the Tigo Money Visa Card allows users to immediately use funds in the Tigo Money Wallet for online or physical payments, to opt for a physical card and to use contactless payment technology, according to the press release.

There are currently 5 million Tigo Money users across Latin America, the release stated. Tigo Money is the FinTech business of Millicom.

“Our alliance with Visa will provide millions of our clients and new users in the region with accessible and much-needed payment alternatives to boost financial inclusion and socio-economic prosperity,” Tigo Money CEO Pablo Montivero Araya said in the release.

PYMNTS research has found that as the world boards the digitization train, there is a ripple effect, even in cash-centric regions.

For example, Visa found that cardholders in Latin America and the Caribbean increased their digital transactions by 55% during the 2021 holiday season compared to 2020.

Raising awareness of digital payments’ benefits and creating tools that ease adoption for both consumers and merchants in the region is a necessity, according to the “Digitizing Payments in Latin America Playbook,” a PYMNTS and Kushki collaboration.