FinTech News
Galileo Announces Partnership with Mexican FinTech Klar
With all that’s going on in the world right now, international expansion might not seem like the most likely move for most companies. Yet that’s what’s happening with Utah-based Galileo Financial Technologies. Last week the FinTech announced a new strategic partnership with the Mexico City-based Klar.
Klar is a challenger bank that aims to lead the “democratization of financial services in Mexico.” That goal got a big jumpstart last year when they raised $57.5 million in what was the largest seed funding round in Mexico. Now, Galileo’s technology will help provide the “backbone” of the services Klar offers through its mobile app, secured credit card, and more.
Galileo’s partnership with Klar comes as a few things are falling into place for the FinTech. First, the company recently gained Mastercard certification through Mastercard’s FinTech Accelerate program in Mexico. This makes them the first API software innovator to do so. The certification not only applies to Mastercard Mexico Domestic Switch (MxDS) for signature, PIN, and ATM transactions but also includes chargeback and settlement processing. Secondly, Galileo only opened its Mexico City offices back in March — conveniently located near Mastercard Mexico’s headquarters.
Speaking to the importance of their Mexico expansion, Galileo’s in-country manager for the country Tory Jackson said in a statement, “Not only is Mexico one of the most influential and innovative FinTech markets in Latin America, it is also one of the FinTech hubs with the highest growth potential worldwide.” Regarding their partnerships with Mastercard and Klar, Jackson added, “Our Mastercard certification and partnership with Klar reinforce our commitment and efforts to bring innovative payment solutions for consumers in Mexico.” Meanwhile, on Klar’s end, CEO Stefan Moller said, “Our partnership with Galileo is yet another big step towards building world-class financial products tailored to the Mexican market.”
Elsewhere, Mastercard Mexico’s Pablo Cuaron said of the company’s work with Galileo, “Mastercard’s partnership with Galileo, which offers powerful and customizable payments infrastructure, will allow FinTechs in Mexico to go to market faster by leveraging Mastercard’s Fintech Express program while meeting the rising consumer demands for digital financial services.” Cuaron went on to note, “This is just another example of how Mastercard is leading the way in partnering with new players to transform the way Mexicans pay.”
This is the second piece of big news to come from Galileo in recent weeks — with the first being their acquisition by SoFi. On that note, while this partnership with Klar marks Galileo’s expansion into Mexico, SoFi themselves just ventured outside of the U.S. for the first time by launching in Hong Kong. Incidentally, that expansion came through another recent acquisition of theirs: 8 Securities. All of this adds up to suggest that SoFi and its growing list of subsidiaries are set to be an international FinTech force for years to come.
