“Can a stablecoin-native neobank become the default cross-border financial OS for Latin American consumers and SMBs that need dollar access?”
Founded in 2021 as DolarApp, a Y Combinator-backed app letting Mexicans hold synthetic dollars via USDc stablecoin. Expanded to Colombia and Brazil in 2023-2025 using a jurisdiction-specific regulated-entity-per-country model (Pier 5 in MX, DAPP in CO, Atlas Brasil IP + ARQ PSAV in BR). Rebranded to ARQ in 2026 to signal evolution from a single-product remittance alternative into a cross-border consumer and SMB neobank offering multi-currency accounts, international cards, stablecoin-backed credit, wealth/investments, and yield-bearing USDc accounts.
ARQ discloses Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house), Atlas Brasil ARQ Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. (in-house) and DAPP Colombia S.A.S. (in-house) as its banking providers, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
ARQ does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house), Atlas Brasil ARQ Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. (in-house) and DAPP Colombia S.A.S. (in-house).
ARQ processes payments through Stripe. Disclosed money-movement rails: Pix.
ARQ's cards are issued through Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house) on the Mastercard network.
ARQ's lending and capital products are provided by DAPP Colombia S.A.S. (in-house).
ARQ's crypto products run on Bridge, Tempo, D.A. Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais Ltda. (in-house, Brazil) and Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house, Mexico).
ARQ's investing and wealth products are powered by Oslo Capital DTVM S.A. and GRP Tech MX 1.0 S.A. de C.V..
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 8 layers in ARQ's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe); Money movement (Pix); Banking / BaaS (Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house), Atlas Brasil ARQ Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. (in-house) and DAPP Colombia S.A.S. (in-house)); Card issuing (Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house)); Card network (Mastercard); Lending (DAPP Colombia S.A.S. (in-house)); Crypto (Bridge, Tempo, D.A. Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais Ltda. (in-house, Brazil) and Pier 5 S.A. de C.V. (in-house, Mexico)); Investing (Oslo Capital DTVM S.A. and GRP Tech MX 1.0 S.A. de C.V.).
ARQ is founded in 2021 and headquartered in New York, NY, USA (with ops in Mexico City).
ARQ has raised ~$75M+ (disclosed) in total (latest round: Later Stage VC, $70M).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against ARQ and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.