Finance

Latin American Stripe rival dLocal acquires UK payments license

Published

4 months ago

January 7, 2025

DLocal is one of Latin America’s most prominent payment players. It specializes in cross-border payments for emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and its home country, Uruguay.

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LONDON — Uruguayan payments firm dLocal has secured a U.K. payment institution license, adding to the company’s growing portfolio of regulatory authorizations as it furthers global expansion.

The emerging markets-focused fintech told CNBC it had acquired an authorized payment institution license from the Financial Conduct Authority, which is Britain’s financial services regulator. That would allow it to start onboarding U.K. merchants for the first time.

DLocal will onboard U.K. merchants through a local entity, Larstal Limited. The subsidiary, which trades in the U.K. as AstroPay, was previously unable to onboard clients locally because of restrictions placed on it by the FCA. DLocal said the restrictions were the result of the U.K.’s exit from the EU.

Pedro Arnt, dLocal’s CEO, told CNBC he expects the business to stand out from domestic payment tech rivals, such as Worldpay and Checkout.com, given its focus on emerging markets in places like Latin America, Africa and Asia.

“The differentiating factor for us when we think of our U.K. base of merchants is that the geographies where we serve them, and those are the only geographies we work,” Arnt said in an interview. He added that dLocal is also targeting global merchants that have a U.K. presence.

“The U.K. has become a hub for many global companies — even the American companies, some Asian companies — for their emerging market expansion, primarily in Africa, and in some cases LatAm,” Arnt told CNBC.

UK expansion plans

Established in 2016, dLocal is one of Latin America’s most prominent payment players. It specializes in cross-border payments for emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and its home country Uruguay.

With a payment license now under its belt, dLocal is looking to boost its U.K. footprint, with plans to increase headcount and grow business.

Arnt said dLocal has already been expanding its U.K. footprint, with a number of its senior executives — like Chief Operating Officer Carlos Menendez and Chief Revenue Officer John O’Brien — based in London. Globally, dLocal currently has over 1,000 employees.

Arnt said a major benefit the U.K. payment license will bring dLocal is recognition as a “licensed partner” that companies in the developed world can trust to handle payments in emerging markets with complex regulatory needs. DLocal now holds over 30 licenses and registrations worldwide.

Still, dLocal will come up against some fierce competition. Britain already has an established fintech ecosystem with numerous well-capitalized players in the world of payments operating there, including PayPal, Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, Mollie and Revolut — to name a few.

‘Not for sale’

DLocal went public on the Nasdaq in 2021, notching a $9 billion valuation at the time. It’s seen its market capitalization decline since then. As of Tuesday, the business was worth $3.4 billion. Still, the stock has risen about 40% in the past six months.

Last month, Reuters reported dLocal was in the process of exploring a potential sale. When asked about buyout speculation by CNBC, Arnt said he didn’t want to comment on rumors, but clarified that dLocal isn’t currently for sale.

All in all, Arnt said, being a public company comes with a level of transparency and oversight that he sees as “positive commercially” for it. At times, he added, “rumors will emerge that someone’s interested in the asset — but I wouldn’t assume there’s too much to that.”

“While there would be a fiduciary duty to shareholders to entertain takeovers, Arnt said that for now, “the company is not for sale.”

Finance

NVDA, BA, COIN, FSLR and more

Published

39 minutes ago

May 13, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Coinbase jumps 22% after S&P 500 inclusion

Published

1 hour ago

May 13, 2025

Business Finance News

Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Coinbase shares soared more than 20% on Tuesday and headed for their sharpest rally since the day after President Donald Trump’s election victory following the crypto exchange’s inclusion in the S&P 500.

S&P Global said in a release late Monday that Coinbase is replacing Discover Financial Services, which is in the process of being acquired by Capital One Financial. The change will take effect before trading on Monday.

Stocks added to the S&P 500 often rise in value because funds that track the benchmark will add it to their portfolios. For Coinbase, it’s the latest sharp move in what’s been a volatile few months since Trump was elected to return to the White House.

Coinbase shares rocketed 31% on Nov. 6, the day after the election, on optimism that the incoming administration would adopt more crypto-friendly policies following a challenging and litigious four years during President Joe Biden’s term in office.

The company and CEO Brian Armstrong were key financial supporters in the 2024 campaign, backing pro-crypto candidates up and down the ticket. Coinbase was one of the top corporate donors, giving more than $75 million to a PAC called Fairshake and its affiliates. Armstrong personally contributed more than $1.3 million to a mix of candidates.

While the start of the Trump term has been mostly favorable to the crypto industry, through deregulation and an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, legislation has thus far stalled. That’s due in part to concerns surrounding Trump’s personal efforts to profit from crypto through a meme coin and other family initiatives.

Coinbase has been on a roller coaster as well, plummeting 26% in February and 20% in March as Trump’s tariff announcements roiled markets and pushed investors out of risk. With Tuesday’s rally, the stock is now up about 2% for the year.

Since going public through a direct listing in 2021, Coinbase has become a bigger part of the U.S. financial system, with bitcoin soaring in value and large institutions gaining regulatory approval to create spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin spiked last week, topping $100,000 and nearing its record price reached in January. The crypto currency surpassed $104,000 on Tuesday.

To join the S&P 500, a company must have reported a profit in its latest quarter and have cumulative profit over the four most recent quarters.

Coinbase last week reported net income of $65.6 million, or 24 cents a share, down from $1.18 billion, or $4.40 a share a year earlier, after accounting for the fair value of its crypto investments. Revenue rose 24% to $2.03 billion from $1.64 billion a year ago.

The company last week also announced plans to buy Dubai-based Deribit, a major crypto derivatives exchange for $2.9 billion. The deal, which is the largest in the crypto industry to date, will help Coinbase broaden its footprint outside the U.S.

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