Visa Acquires Prisma and Newpay
Visa has completed its acquisition of Argentina's Prisma Medios de Pago and Newpay S.A.U. The move aims to modernize Latin America's payments infrastructure, giving Visa control over a major processor and a consumer finance provider to accelerate its real-time payment ambitions in the region.
This deal represents a strategic re-acquisition for Visa, which, along with 14 local banks, had previously sold a 51% stake in Prisma Medios de Pago to private equity firm Advent International in 2019 for approximately $724 million. The earlier sale had valued Prisma at $1.42 billion. Visa is now buying back the issuer processing and real-time payments assets, while Advent will retain ownership of the merchant acquiring business, Payway. The acquisition gives Visa control over significant domestic infrastructure in Argentina beyond its core card network. Newpay operates the Banelco ATM network, the PagoMisCuentas bill payment platform, and other real-time payment services. Prisma is a major processor for credit, debit, and prepaid cards in the country. This vertical integration allows Visa to embed technologies like tokenization and biometric authentication directly into the local payments fabric. This move mirrors a broader trend in Latin America, where real-time payment systems are becoming foundational financial infrastructure. Brazil's Pix system, for example, is now the country's most used transaction method, surpassing cash and cards, with similar instant payment initiatives underway in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. In Argentina, fast payments already account for over 40% of digital transaction volumes. The acquisition comes as Argentina's fintech market is experiencing resilient growth despite economic volatility. The local ecosystem now includes over 380 fintech firms, with payments and remittances being the largest segment. High inflation has spurred significant consumer adoption of digital wallets, crypto, and other fintech solutions to safeguard wealth. For Visa, this deepens its competitive position against multi-rail payment strategies from rivals. However, the path to regional dominance through acquisition is not without obstacles. Regulators in Latin America are increasingly wary of market concentration, evidenced by Mexico's antitrust authority recently blocking Visa's proposed purchase of another payment processor, Prosa. The deal is expected to accelerate the modernization of Argentina's payment systems, with Visa planning to create an "agnostic" platform that can process transactions from any card brand or payment method. According to Visa Argentina's Group Country Manager, Gabriela Renaudo, the focus is now on integrating the platforms to expand digital payment adoption across the country. The transaction also highlights a growing trend of collaboration between established financial institutions and fintech companies in the region. Banks are increasingly partnering with fintechs to distribute financial products and reach underserved sectors, recognizing their role in driving digital innovation. This acquisition places Visa at the center of that dynamic in one of Latin America's most diversified fintech markets.
