The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2020–2026
Fintoc bets bank-transfer payments beat cards as open finance lands in LatAm
Chilean YC alum turning bank transfers into checkout payments: 1.2M monthly users, $7M Series A, then SPEI and CMF licenses.
Fintoc
What the business is
API that lets online businesses accept instant account-to-account payments straight from customers' bank accounts.
Starting capital：$3.6M seed (2021), then $7M Series A (Apr 2024) for $10.6M total
How it started
Founded in Santiago in 2020 by Cristóbal Griffero and Lukas Zorich; went through Y Combinator W21; raised a $3.6M seed led by Monashees in 2021, pitching 'Plaid for LatAm' before pivoting to account-to-account payments.
What happened
In 2023, 1.8M people in Chile paid with Fintoc (~13% of the population), with ~1.2M monthly users and 400+ clients including Rappi and Larraín Vial. April 2024: $7M Series A led by Propel (total $10.6M) to make Mexico the main market. December 2025: authorized to connect directly to Banxico's SPEI, launched Transfers (pay-ins, payouts, refunds), with an IFPE license from CNBV. May 2026: CMF registered Fintoc Pagos as a non-bank issuer of prepaid payment accounts — the first CPF under the new central-bank rules, connected to Chile's CCA clearing rail.
How it ended up
Still scaling in two countries with licensed payment infrastructure; positioned for Chile's Open Finance System and payment-initiation rules to formalize the account-to-account market.
Background
Fintoc was founded in Santiago in 2020 by Cristóbal Griffero and Lukas Zorich, went through Y Combinator's W21 batch, and raised a $3.6M seed led by Monashees in 2021. The original pitch was 'Plaid for LatAm', but the founders found that payment plumbing beat data plumbing: businesses wanted to accept bank transfers at checkout without card fees.
Its product is an API that lets online businesses accept account-to-account payments directly from customers' bank accounts, cutting processing costs by up to 70%. Traction was fast: in 2023, 1.8M people in Chile paid with Fintoc — about 13% of the population — with roughly 1.2M monthly users and 400+ clients including Rappi, Larraín Vial and Santiago's RED transport-card operator.
The regulatory bet came next. Chile's Fintech Law (Law 21.521) took effect in February 2024, and the CMF's NCG 514 (July 2024) began building the Open Finance System that would formally regulate payment initiators. Fintoc raised a $7M Series A in April 2024 led by Propel (total $10.6M) to push Mexico, then in December 2025 won authorization to connect directly to Banxico's SPEI and launched Transfers, backed by an IFPE license from CNBV.
In May 2026 the CMF registered Fintoc Pagos as a non-bank issuer of prepaid payment accounts — the first such account under the new central-bank rules, with direct interconnection to Chile's automated clearing house. As of September 2026 the company is scaling in both countries with licensed infrastructure, positioned for the Open Finance System's full rollout.
What has to be true
- Bank transfers already dominated person-to-person payments in Chile; Fintoc simply formalized them for merchants, a demand that regulation later codified.
- Account-to-account payments cut card interchange out of checkout — up to 70% cheaper processing, so merchants had a financial reason to switch, not just a legal one.
- Chile's Fintech Law and the Open Finance System turned payment initiators into a regulated category, which is what made the company bankable for Propel and Monashees.
- Licenses compounded: CMF issuer registration in Chile and IFPE plus direct SPEI access in Mexico made Fintoc infrastructure rather than just a checkout button.
What can be applied
Fintoc built account-to-account rails before the law; Chile's Fintech Law then turned its niche into a regulated, fundable category. Regulation legitimized demand that was already there.
Aftermath
As of September 2026, Fintoc is scaling in Chile and Mexico with licensed payment infrastructure: a CMF registration as non-bank CPF issuer connected to Chile's CCA clearing rail, and an IFPE license with direct SPEI access in Mexico through its Transfers product. Chile's Open Finance System implementation is still rolling out — the CMF consulted on a 12-month extension in late 2025 — so the fully regulated market, and the interchange-fee debate around bank transfers, is still ahead. Fintoc's stated goal is 100 million payers by 2030.
Sources
- Chilean instant payments API startup Fintoc raises $7 million to turn Mexico into its main market
- Levantamos una Serie A de US $7M
- CMF issues new regulations for financial service providers under the Fintech Law
- Iniciadores de pago: los nuevos actores que reconfiguran el sistema de compras en Chile
- Fintoc se conecta al Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios de México para impulsar pagos en el comercio electrónico
- Fintoc entra oficialmente a la infraestructura de pagos chilena
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card