By Martín Jofré, Co-founder and Chief Risk Officer of notbank.com
For years, the regulatory conversation surrounding neo-banks and fintech platforms in Latin America was dominated by fear: fear of systemic risk, money laundering, and the loss of monetary control. That fear, understandable in its origins, led to delayed, fragmented, and in some cases openly discouraging regulatory frameworks for innovation. Today, however, something is changing. And at notbank.com, we see it as the opening of a historic window of opportunity.
A clear regulatory framework is not the enemy of innovation; it is the condition that makes innovation possible. Companies that invest in transparency and regulatory compliance do not do so out of obligation, but because they understand that user trust is the scarcest asset in the digital ecosystem.
What should smart regulation prioritize? Effective regulation for neo-banks in 2025 should focus on three fundamental pillars. First, proportionality. It makes little sense to apply the same capital or reporting requirements to a startup serving 50,000 users in an emerging market as to a systemic bank with decades of history. Regulatory thresholds should scale according to the volume, risk, and actual impact of each player.
Second, interoperability. The biggest bottleneck in the Latin American ecosystem is not the lack of regulation, but the absence of shared infrastructure. Open APIs, digital identity systems, and real-time payment rails are the foundation upon which any neo-bank can build meaningful value propositions. Regulators pushing this agenda are already reaping the benefits in terms of financial inclusion and competition.
Third, clarity around digital assets. Regulatory ambiguity surrounding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins remains one of the main obstacles to the sector’s development. This is not a call for laissez-faire policies, but for clear rules of the game: what can be custodied, how it should be reported, and what protections users are entitled to.
At notbank.com, we believe digital assets are a natural extension of the financial services of the future, and that regulation must evolve alongside this reality rather than deny it.
Countries that delay this agenda are not protecting themselves — they are falling behind. Capital, talent, and users migrate toward environments where the rules are predictable. The experience of markets such as Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile demonstrates that when regulators work in dialogue with the industry — rather than legislating against it — the result is a more robust, more competitive, and above all, more inclusive ecosystem.
