Flávio Moreira

A fellow payment professional asked me this really interesting question in the comments: "James, it would be interesting to learn about your views on how the Irish/European acquiring market would benefit from partnering with Brazilian fintech innovation." It's a great question, and it got me thinking. Here's my take: The truth is, I've never found a strong synergy between the Irish/European acquiring market and Brazilian fintech innovation. And believe me, I've looked - I'm probably one of the most obvious candidates to spot that connection if it existed! → They're different worlds, each with their own unique challenges and opportunities. → Europe's market is mature with established regulations. Brazil’s is newer and more innovative out of necessity. → Take Pix in Brazil. It's brilliant, but it solves a specifically Brazilian problem. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to learn. Europe could definitely benefit from Brazil's innovation mindset. The way Brazilian fintechs solve problems and focus on customers is impressive. For example, look at how companies have built on top of Pix. The central bank created the system, but fintechs made it useful in countless ways. Europe could learn from this as it tries to create its own pan-European payment method. Europe has its strengths too. PSD2 and Open Banking have led the way in regulation that Brazil has been closely attuned to and picked the best from. So while I don't see a direct partnership opportunity, I do see a chance for knowledge exchange. European firms can learn about rapid innovation, while Brazilian firms can learn about regulation and standardization. In payments, you need to understand both global trends and local needs. The key is figuring out which lessons can travel and which ones need to stay local.

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Capital One is teaming up with #fintech giants Stripe and Adyen to offer a free product aimed at #frauddetection. They have built an #opensource project, called Direct Data Share, which is an #API that allows #merchants or anyone in the #payment stack to send real-time #ecommerce transaction data and act like a data clearinghouse, identifying #fraud across all of their rails. As an example, when they see an IP address through Stripe that turns out to be fraudulent, they can use that same IP address to prevent fraud for transactions happening at Adyen, and vice versa. https://lnkd.in/gZCK48pF #fraudprevention #banking #digitalcommerce #creditcards

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I've been a great believer that instant payments, like our PIX in Brazil, is a path to democratize access to the financial system and boost country's economies. Now we have proper research and numbers to express it 🙂. According to ACI's recent Economic Impact and Financial Inclusion report, in 2023, instant payments boosted global GDPs by $164 billion. By 2028, ACI estimates millions of citizens will have access to banking technology for the first time, not only boosting each country's economic output but providing substantial opportunities for financial services to reach currently unbanked or underbanked consumers. You can access the full report now: https://aciw.co/4fQfFfC

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Brazil's acquiring market has exploded in the last 12 years. Once dominated by a VisaNet and Redecard duopoly, everything changed when something impressive happened in 2010: The Brazilian government decided to liberalize the payments market. This move was massive, and I've had a front-row seat to watch its impact unfold. → The third acquirer to enter was Santander. → One of the most dramatic entries was Adyen from Europe. Their cutting-edge product innovation and global experience in disruptive payment solutions allowed them to outperform incumbents and bring a wave of innovation to the Brazilian payment market. → Today we're looking at a market with 30+ acquirers. The competition is fierce, and the innovation is palpable. Brazil is the most complex market for card payments I've seen. You've got: - Installments & Anticipation - Rules by the central bank - Rules by the Card schemes That all works in ways I've never seen anywhere in the world. But this complexity has driven innovation. Now, merchants have access to better services, more options, and increasingly sophisticated products. It's taken about 12 years, but now Brazil is where it wants to be. It's a testament to how regulatory changes can spark a revolution in an industry.

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#Brazil and #Japan’s deep-rooted relationships are seeing even more synergy with the growth of #Web3, with both governments and companies alike helping to forge a path ahead. My latest commentary highlights Brazil’s embrace of Web3, how Japan’s Web3 strategy aligns with Brazil, and the potential economic benefits for both countries. Thank you to HackerNoon for publishing my latest article. #EconomicCooperation #BrazilJapan #Drex #DigitalCurrency #SupplyChainTechnology https://lnkd.in/gVKQ8zQy

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As global discussions around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) continue to increase, our Head of Innovation Solutions, Carlos Kazuo Missao, sat down with The Fintech Times to discuss Brazil’s rollout of their CBDC and what it means for other countries. "Brazil's Drex is evidence of how countries can successfully launch CBDCs after thorough testing and experimentation. Not only is the country now an early adopter of CBDCs, but its central bank has taken a highly collaborative approach to CBDC development, working with over 40 local banks and global technology companies to develop new use cases and capabilities before rolling them out to consumers." Check out the entire piece in The Fintech Times: https://okt.to/xInYFz #FinTech #CentralBanking #Banking

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South Africans are less than 5% of the total African population and yet South African Fintechs make up more than 20% of all African Fintech Startups. Here are the Top Ten! #fintech #startups #africa

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Only couple of hours left to #WomeninTech event. This year I will have unique pleasure to talk about #leadership. Telling you my story, I will do my best to encourage all of You to take an extra step and to shape your career becoming fulfilled, inspiring, motivational and thoughtful #leader Until July 2026, all large stock-exchange-listed companies in the EU must meet the gender diversity targets of Women on Boards Directive. This means that diversity, equity and inclusion is a strategic necessity for many corporates and opportunities are opening up for women who want to become executive and non-executive directors. European Boards of Directors are in need of young women who offer fresh perspectives, fostering innovative problem-solving approaches and sustainability.    This event will feature insightful discussions, presentations, and case studies from successful executives, providing attendees with valuable knowledge on how to overcome common challenges, advance in their careers and how to get to the C-suite. This is a unique opportunity for women to network, exchange ideas, and learn from experienced leaders in the industry. 📢 What is your recipe to become great leader? Nordea, ABSL Poland Iwona Słończewska-Knap Katarzyna Mendelson-Maciejak Kasia Piasecki Bianka Siwinska, PhD #leadership #womeninTech #careerdevelopment #womengoboards #motivation #inspiration #DiversityandInclusion

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This story highlights some of the key challenges when scaling a FinTech to a Global Bank: 1. Balancing that north-star customer experience with protecting Customers from banking fraud activities 2. Cultivating a risk and compliance-oriented mindset in the backdrop of the silicon-valley style fail fast & ship faster culture 3. Balancing the ambition to grow/scale globally at breakneck speed while delivering regulatory (& ethical) obligations of running a Bank 4. Trade-off between reliance on Technology (AI) for scale & efficiency with human-in-the-loop for helping manage distressed customers and their emotions What other trade-offs can you think of when scaling a FinTech into a Global Bank? https://lnkd.in/eKXmGN3C #Fintech #ScalingFinTech #Revolut #FCRM #DigitalBanking #BankingRegulations

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🚀 We've made incredible progress at #LaqiraProtocol's road map in the recent months! Here's what we've already achieved: - #Laqirahub is live—our all-in-one #DeFi platform. - LaqiDex Launched, a BSC-based DEX, empowering safe trading based on using on-chain price feeds including #Chainlink. - TaBit Integrated into Laqirahub, a decentralized derivative trading system. - LaqiraPay Developed from scratch—an innovative fully decentralized asset agnostic payment portal with 4 versatile options containing website plugin, public mono-link, specified mono-link, and POS. We're building the future of finance, one step at a time. Stay tuned for more and read additional details at https://laqira.io. 🌐 #Crypto #Blockchain #LQR $LQR

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InAppStory, a Lisbon-based SaaS platform, is changing the game for businesses looking to boost mobile app engagement and retention. What’s interesting is the way InAppStory aims to blend these stories into the user experience seamlessly. It’s not about interrupting users; instead, it’s designed to be a natural part of the app’s flow. That’s an important factor because too many in-app marketing strategies end up feeling disruptive. The results speak for themselves - InAppStory reports a 40% engagement rate with its Carousel Stories, which is impressive. But for me, it’s about seeing how well this model holds up across different industries. It seems like it works well in sectors like e-commerce, retail, and even food tech, but I’m curious to see how it evolves in industries with less social interaction or gamified potential. #InAppStory #AppEngagement #UserExperience #MobileApps #TechInnovation

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Exciting News 🤔 | Nubank, Brazil's leading digital bank, is now offering Bitcoin payment services using the Lightning Network to its 100 million customers and expanding throughout Latin and South America. This initiative underscores a significant shift in the financial landscape, highlighting the region's rapid adoption of digital assets. This month, Argentina reported a historic economic milestone: the country achieved 0% inflation for the first time in three decades, bolstered by substantial governmental cuts and proactive investments in cryptocurrency mining. These moves signify a broader trend toward innovative economic strategies. Meanwhile, El Salvador remains in the spotlight for its continuous investment in Bitcoin, purchasing one Bitcoin daily to strengthen its treasury reserves since 2022. It is also noteworthy that Berkshire Hathaway, led by the renowned investor Warren Buffett—who has historically been critical of cryptocurrencies, even labeling them "rat poison squared"—has indirectly supported the digital asset sector through its investment in Nubank. Although Buffett has not publicly endorsed cryptocurrencies, his firm's investment in a bank integrating digital assets into its operations reflects the evolving dynamics of global finance. Bitcoin is now the 8th-most valuable asset by market cap, with a valuation of $1.2T We applaud Nubank’s CEO, David Vélez, and his team for their visionary leadership and commitment to innovation, truly defining the future of banking. As Nubank continues to pioneer these technological advances, it serves as an example we hope will inspire U.S. banks to embrace similar transformative technologies for our citizens. Congratulations to Thomaz Lysakowski Fortes, CGA®, the entire Nubank team, Christian Catalini, and the Lightspark team for setting a new standard as the future of banking! #Nubank #DigitalBanking #Bitcoin #LightningNetwork #CryptoPayments #Finance #LatinAmerica #Banking #Fintech #FutureOfFinance #WarrenBuffett #lightspark https://lnkd.in/gqeVa9kX

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The Global IT Outage of this morning reminds us of our dependency on IT, technology and critical infrastructure. But also on the value and improvements in our day lives that we often give for granted! From and impact on the the global infrastructures as airports, hospitals and the banking system … which may put real lives at threat. To the dependency of so many smaller businesses on the global availability of ‘as a service’ offers that allow them to concentrate on their businesses and have servers, connectivity and fundamental IT services just … one less thing to worry about it. As long as they work as expected 😰 With a few global IT cloud and tech providers are we putting all the eggs in the same basket and creating single pint of failures ? Hoping that the situation will be back to normal soon, let’s use this ‘wake up call’ to step back and reflect on our personal, infrastructural and financial dependency on Global IT #globalitoutage #bsod #cybersecurity #digital #digitalvalue #criticalinfrastructure

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🌍 Paving the Way for Sustainable Payments! 🌍 We’re proud to share that Banco Santander and Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) have been awarded Best ESG Initiative in Payments at the Pay360 Awards 2024! 🏆 This achievement showcases our dedication to creating a more sustainable future for the payments industry. In an effort to reduce plastic waste, we’ve partnered to transform expired payment cards into urban furniture, benefiting local communities and keeping plastic out of landfills and oceans. 🌊 Through Santander’s network of 5,000+ ATMs, we’ve successfully recycled over 1.1 million cards, giving them a second life as benches in public spaces. Each bench is fitted with a QR code that allows citizens to trace the journey of their recycled card. This initiative underscores how banks can go beyond traditional eco-friendly practices—by directly engaging with customers and contributing to a more sustainable society. With Santander targeting net zero emissions by 2050 and G+D working towards eliminating plastic in cards by 2030, we’re proud to be leading the way in responsible innovation. #Sustainability #EcoInnovation #Fintech #ESG #Pay360Awards2024 #GreenBanking #GieseckeDevrient #Santander #Recycling

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This week, I attended Febraban Tech in Brazil and found out that a major attack had impacted two of the top vendors in the biometrics industry. As a result, many financial institutions experienced disruptions in their operations. The main point that I've been emphasizing for years is that relying solely on biometrics or any single authentication method is not enough for security. When it fails, it can have a severe impact on your business. As deepfake technology becomes more widespread, we can expect more instances of biometric authentication being compromised. Thankfully, our Brazilian customers were not affected because our tampering detection layer was able to identify all the injection attacks, and our device/location identity solutions successfully authenticated legitimate users without friction. #fraudprevention #frauddetection #frictionlessauthentication

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Seems like AI is all I hear about these days, not too closely followed by Security. Whatever happened to Fintech?? After visiting Brazil for the first time, it was surprising to learn how far BEHIND the US is in digital payment/fintech infrastructure in our day to day lives. Interesting to see who the top Fintech companies are, at least according to Forbes: https://lnkd.in/g8eTaYMf

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#VP_Payments_role I've been recently discussing the evolving role of "VP Payments" with my fintech-network friends. This multifaceted position entails a blend of strategy, subject matter expertise, product, and operations – a dynamic mix that keeps things interesting (and this is why the strategic consultant in me loves it 😊 ). It also has it fair share of challenges with finding the right place among the more traditional management roles. Perhaps I am a bit biased, but I believe that the #VP_Payments_role will become increasingly prevalent in top companies, driving their innovative growth. I am lucky that Fijoya insisted on having #Payments as part of the founding team from day 1, which is not necessarily an obvious decision for a company in the healthcare space, making sure our #fintech aspect is a pivotal part of our value proposition and growth. For this role to expand and become part of the fabric of the industry, we need to reverse engineer the path, learn from mistakes as well as success stories, bust some of the myths and figure out what makes this function so pivotal in the right place at the right time, so that others can learn from it and naturally shape the role as it evolves with time Top companies like Checkout.com are starting to drive the conversation: ״Businesses need experts who can handle the complexities of payments and fix problems fast. They need a payment leader who can orchestrate this operation and seize growth opportunities through intelligent, innovative strategies - enters Chief Payments Officer״ (Link at the first comment) I am glad this is coming to the surface and I am happy to keep the discussion going with a few more thoughts and insights going forward.

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Fantastic panel at Web Summit Rio “How Fintechs Serve as SMB Accelerators” with my co-founder Andrea Burattini, Cora’s founder Igor Senra and Vexi’s co-founder Cinthia Merlos. Here are a few excerpts from the panel, focusing on Andrea's experiences as she developed Dinie. Having grown up around small businesses, most of her family and friends included, Andrea recognized the chance to enhance their lives through a seamless banking experience, where financial products are easily accessible on platforms that these businesses use daily, aligning with their ongoing needs and routines. We decided to tackle credit cards and business overdrafts directly, since we've observed numerous small businesses fail due to these products, which aren't suitable for their working capital needs. We've been at the forefront of introducing embedded lending as a service in Brazil and have taken advantage of regulatory innovations like Receivables Registration, Open Banking, and PIX. Looking forward, our embedded API model allows us to integrate all the services we develop into any ecosystem that supports small and micro businesses. #womenarethefutureoffinancialservices #WebSummitRio #Fintech #SMBs #FinancialInclusion #EmbeddedLending #OpenBanking #BusinessInnovation #Entrepreneurship #Dinie

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An interesting article about PayPal. I’d forgotten it is 26 years old! Massive turnaround of the company….starting with a 9% “trim the fat” layoff that impacted 2,500 people in Jan 2022. They were one of the first big tech companies to kick things off 😢 Working for a publicly-traded company (ie on the stock market) can be incredibly rewarding…but never ever forget…you’re just a number on a giant spreadsheet. Profit and growth are the two most important pillars. Oh…and PayPal is hiring. Some sweet, niche, white-collar, corporate roles…over 350 listed: https://lnkd.in/g-DNjd7n There is not a shortage of jobs in America. But, there is a massive misalignment of: skills, compensation, and location. #ResumeIsKing https://lnkd.in/g8JRJVwP

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