The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | July 4th

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements for Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Revolut, a digital bank, has acquired Argentina’s Banco Cetelem, a lender owned by BNP Paribas, as the company continues to expand its presence in Latin America.

The London-based FinTech said the purchase would secure a full banking licence in Argentina, marking its first formal entry into South America’s second-largest economy. The move builds on Revolut’s recent growth in the region, where it has already launched operations in Mexico and Brazil.

Banco Cetelem is a licensed bank, with assets of around $6.4 million according to central bank data as of March. The deal, which remains subject to regulatory approval from Argentina’s monetary authority, will see Revolut take over both Cetelem’s licence and assets. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

Revolut participated in a competitive bidding process alongside other interested buyers, including private equity firm Southern Cross Group and local brokerage Criteria. The company has already begun to build its leadership team for Argentina, appointing Agustin Danza as Chief Executive Officer to oversee the business locally.

The acquisition comes as Argentina’s financial sector undergoes significant change. Under President Javier Milei, the government has introduced sweeping economic reforms, including cuts to public spending, the easing of some capital controls and tighter monetary policies. The reforms have contributed to stabilising inflation and boosting real wages in parts of the economy, which in turn is driving a recovery in consumer lending.

Several domestic and international financial firms have shown renewed interest in Argentina’s banking market in recent months. Local FinTechs and capital market players, including Allaria, Uala and MercadoLibre, have sought banking licences to expand their services in line with new market conditions.

Deals of the week

• Singapore sets up SPaN to unify core payment systems
• Aurionpro expands UK footprint with AI-powered lending partnership
• OpenPayd partners with Ripple to expand cross-border payments
• PayGlocal taps Banking Circle to simplify international payment collections
• Hawk expands AML tech with new instant fraud defence models
• FincFriends raises $11.4m to grow digital loans
• Tink powers instant payments for UK savings app Chip
• Audax, FPT team up to expand digital banking in Asia and ME

Be on the lookout for

The “Building a Future-Ready Bank” summit, scheduled for August 7, 2025, in Singapore, is a flagship event by Cedar-IBSi aimed at accelerating the transformation of the banking sector. This high-level gathering will bring together senior banking executives, FinTech leaders, and technology innovators to explore how banks can evolve into agile, customer-centric, and digitally empowered institutions.