The Americas saw a great start to the year in terms of fintech investment, reaching $21 billion across 545 deals, while well-off pace to match 2018’s massive investment high.

The diverse locations of the top deals during the first six months of the year also suggests that the fintech market is maturing both within and outside of the US. While US dominated the fintech investment space, Canada pulled in two of the top deals in the Americas during H1’19, including the acquisition of Solium Capital by Morgan Stanley for $844 million and H&R Block’s acquisition of Wave Capital for $405 million. The $725 million buyout of Argentina-based Prisma Medios de Pago by Advent International was also among the top fintech deals in the Americas.

Graph showing Total Investment activity in Fintech in the Americas
Quote by John Armstrong
Pulse of Fintech H1'2019 Americas infographic

Trends to watch for in the Americas

US-based M&A activity is expected to drive significant investment in the Americas heading into H2’19, with three multi-billion deals announced but not yet closed including Fidelity’s acquisition of WorldPay, Fiserv’s acquisition of First Data, and the merger of Global Payments and Total System Services.

Looking forward, Canada is expected to continue to see strong investment and interest in AI-focused fintechboth from domestic and cross-border investors. Canadian banks are also expected to increase their investments in fintechs now that Canadian banking regulations have been adjusted to allow them to do so more readily.

Latin America is also expected to continue to attract significant attention from fintech investors heading into H2’19, particularly in the payments space.