Ualá
“Can a prepaid-card neobank consolidate into the financial OS — banking, credit, investments, acquiring and insurance — for the LatAm underbanked across Argentina, Mexico and Colombia?”
Founded2017
HQBuenos Aires, Argentina
FoundersPierpaolo Barbieri
Total raised$900M+
Latest roundEquity financing, March 2026
Valuation$3.2B post-money (2026)
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story
Founded in 2017 as a prepaid Mastercard + mobile app for the Argentine underbanked, Ualá has steadily evolved from a single-card product into a multi-country financial ecosystem. The 2022 acquisition of Wilobank in Argentina and ABC Capital in Mexico marked a deliberate pivot from PSP/wallet into chartered banking, giving the company deposit-taking ability and SEDESA coverage on bank balances. The 2024–2026 Allianz partnership now layers embedded insurance on top, and Ualá Bis extends the franchise from consumer into SMB acquiring.
Product timeline
2017
Founded by Pierpaolo Barbieri; launched prepaid Mastercard + mobile app in Argentina· launch
2021
$350M Series D at $2.45B led by SoftBank & Tencent — largest Argentine private raise to date· funding
2022
Acquired Wilobank (Argentina's first digital bank) — converting Ualá into a chartered bank· acquisition
2022
Acquired ABC Capital in Mexico to obtain a Mexican bank license· acquisition
2023
Launched Ualá Bis POS Pro acquiring product for SMB merchants· lending
2024
$366M Series E led by Allianz X, establishing Allianz as long-term strategic partner· funding
2026
Launched digital life & personal-accident insurance with Allianz· pivot
2026
$195M raise at $3.2B post-money to accelerate regional expansion· funding
Regulated entities
7
regulatory licences held by Ualá
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
4 layers disclosed in Ualá’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Ualá Bis (self-operated acquiring)POS Pro (self-operated)mPOS (self-operated)QR payments (self-operated)Payment link (self-operated)Online-store integration (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
7 more providers across 3 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.