Mexican payments company Clip is launching a digital wallet as it pushes to bring millions of consumers and small businesses into the country’s formal financial system.
The product, developed through a partnership with Ant International, Mastercard Inc. and TelevisaUnivision Inc., will give consumers access to digital accounts for everyday payments, banking services and credit products, according to Clip founder and Chief Executive Officer Adolfo Babatz.
The company has secured $500 million from investors at a valuation above $2.5 billion to fund the product, but declined to name the investors because the round is still subject to regulatory approval.
Clip said the platform will help consumers and merchants shift from cash to digital payments through a mobile app that supports multiple payment methods, including bank cards, digital wallets and instant payments.
“There’s not a single tool that really helps people have everything in one place,” Babatz said in an interview. “We are not going after the card users, we are not going after the bank users — we’re going after the cash users.”
Clip built its business serving merchants, but the new investment is mainly aimed at expanding its consumer reach.
As part of the rollout, the company plans to boost from 28,000 to 100,000 the cash-in locations across Mexico where users deposit cash into their digital wallets, helping connect the country’s cash-based economy with digital financial services.
Mexico remains heavily reliant on cash despite years of investment in digital financial infrastructure. About 85% of small purchases are still paid in cash, while roughly 40% of adults remain outside the formal financial system, according to Mexico’s 2024 National Financial Inclusion Survey.
For Clip, the partnership adds global payments infrastructure as it seeks to expand its financial services offerings. Founded in 2012, the company built its business by helping cash-reliant merchants accept card payments and has since expanded into software, lending and business management tools.
“These are a technology and a user experience that have been proven in many countries around the world and that really make financial inclusion a reality,” Babatz said.
At $500 million, the deal ranks among the largest startup raises in Latin America this year. Mexican digital bank Plata raised $405 million in April, while used-car marketplace Kavak secured $300 million in February and Argentine fintech Ualá raised $195 million in March.
The transaction comes as venture capital activity in the region remains well below levels seen during the pandemic-era funding boom. Investment rose to $6.5 billion in 2025 from $4.2 billion a year earlier, according to Pitchbook data, but much of that growth was driven by a relatively small number of large deals as funding across the broader startup market continued to cool.
Clip reached a valuation of more than $1 billion in 2021 after a $250 million funding round led by SoftBank, cementing its position in Mexico’s fintech boom. Backing from global investors continued in recent years, with Clip raising $100 million from Morgan Stanley Tactical Value in its latest round in June 2024.
For Ant, the deal marks another step in its expansion across Latin America. The company made one of its first investments in the region last year through a strategic investment in lending startup R2 and has identified low banking penetration, limited access to credit and rising demand for digital financial services as conditions similar to those that fueled fintech growth in Asia over the past decade.
Ant International supports more than 300 payment methods in over 220 markets. Initially catering to Chinese tourists traveling abroad, the company expanded the service into a cross-border payments network known as Alipay+ that can be used by different wallets.
| Read More: |
|---|
| Mexico’s Banks Handed Out Millions of Cards That Nobody Wants |
| Cash Losing Its Crown in the World’s Biggest Money Corridor |
| Nu, Revolut Lead Fintech Quest for Mexico’s Middle-Class Wealth |