Visa strengthens hold in the Caribbean as YellowPepper receives $12.5-million funding

Latin American fintech firm YellowPepper, which provides mobile payments solutions in the region and the Caribbean, received an addition funding in the tune of $12.5 million led by none other than Visa Inc (V), as the payments gaint looks to drive token payments, access to Visa APIs, and push payments via Visa Direct.

Visa had initially established a connection with YellowPepper by penning a multi-year agreement back in 2017. However, the Mastercard-rival plans to expand to the region as it hunts for more clients and partners through YellowPepper’s domain expertise in the region, according to a statement.

Latin America and the Caribbean regional head of Visa, Eduardo Coello, said, “Through our investment in YellowPepper, we want to bring the best of Visa’s technology and capabilities to a broader set of partners and clients across the region.”

“YellowPepper’s extensive experience in the region and the strength of their existing client base makes them an ideal partner to build the future of payments,” he added.

Visa Inc holds an average analyst rating of ‘Outperform’

Visa’s strategic move with YellowPepper can be viewed as part of opening the Visa ecosystem up to appeal to global consumers. The 2004-founded financial tech company supports at least 6.6 million monthly active users. According to the company, 480 million transactions take place yearly over the platform, with 400,000 merchants as clients.

Visa Inc (V) closed on a higher note (up almost 1%) at market close on Wednesday. The payments giant has been a 15.66% rally this year, but many experts are of the opinion that it can grow at least 6% more.

Taking 36 analysts who cover the company, the average rating is ‘Outperform’.

Visa now enjoys a rather sustainable and healthy position, helped by a free cash flow of $11.14 billion spanning the last twelve months. And with the current trend, analysts also expect the earnings to grow in coming quarters. How Visa capitalizes on its Latin American growth is yet to be seen, but it sure looks like a healthy bet.