Payments giant, Visa, is set to acquire Brazilian payments infrastructure startup Pismo for $1 billion in cash, making it one of the largest fintech M&A deals of the year. Pismo, founded in 2016 by Juliana Motta (CPO), Ricardo Josua (CEO), Daniela Binatti (CTO), and Marcelo Parise (VP of engineering), has established itself as a leading provider with renowned clients such as Citi, Itaú, Revolut, and Nubank. The startup processes nearly 50 billion API calls and $40 billion in transaction volumes annually, serving around 80 million accounts and over 40 million issued cards.
Pismo has expanded its operations beyond Brazil and currently operates in several Latin American countries, as well as the United States, Europe, and some other regions. The company offers a cloud-native issuer processing and core banking platform, providing flexibility and agility to banks, fintechs, and financial institutions. Its platform supports the launch of various products, including cards and payments, digital banking, digital wallets, and marketplaces. Pismo’s solution enables financial institutions to take control of their core data and utilize it intelligently.
With the acquisition, Visa aims to provide core banking and issuer processing capabilities through cloud-native APIs, covering debit, prepaid, credit, and commercial cards. The addition of Pismo’s platform will also allow Visa to support emerging payment rails such as Pix in Brazil, further enhancing its services for financial institution clients. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approvals, and Pismo will continue to operate with its current management team in São Paulo.
Visa’s move to acquire Pismo reflects its commitment to offering differentiated issuer solutions and delivering an exceptional user experience to its financial institution and fintech clients. The deal showcases a strategic decision by a global card network to expand its services beyond traditional credit and debit card rails, focusing on core banking and card issuing services. The acquisition was not actively sought by Pismo, but Visa recognized the potential synergies and the opportunity to strengthen its relationship with banks and financial institutions by providing critical APIs.
This acquisition marks Visa’s continued interest in infrastructure plays within the fintech space. In 2022, Visa completed its acquisition of Tink, a leading European fintech startup focused on open banking APIs. While Visa’s planned acquisition of Plaid was abandoned due to regulatory challenges, the company remains committed to expanding its offerings in the financial infrastructure sector.
“Through the acquisition of Pismo, Visa can better serve our financial institution and fintech clients with more differentiated core banking and issuer solutions they can offer their customers,” said Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Visa.
“At Pismo, we aim to enable our clients to launch cutting-edge payments and banking products within a single cloud-native platform, regardless of rails, geography or currency,” said Ricardo Josua, Co-Founder, CEO, Pismo. “Visa provides us unrivalled support to expand our footprint globally and help shape a new era for banking and payments.”
The acquisition of Pismo by Visa is not only significant for the Latin America region, which experienced increased investor interest in 2021, but also represents a remarkable turnaround for Pismo itself. The company, which faced financial challenges in 2019, has overcome adversity and grown to become a prominent player in the industry. The acquisition by Visa will provide further opportunities for expansion and development. Additionally, this deal marks the second time that Accel, a venture firm, has invested in a financial infrastructure company that was subsequently acquired.
Pismo will retain its founders and current management team
