Latin America: A Mosaic of Open Finance Opportunities for 2026

Latin America has consolidated itself as a global engine of financial innovation. However, when looking at the open finance map in the region, the landscape is clearly heterogeneous. Sensedia, a global leader in open finance solutions, released a report this month describing the region as a “sea of opportunities” marked by different levels of maturity. While Brazil discusses systemic transformation and leads globally, countries such as Colombia, Chile, and Mexico navigate intermediate stages, and nations like Argentina and Peru are still taking their first steps.

This article explores the main topics covered in the report and how each market is charting its own course, learning from one another and using technology to overcome regulatory challenges.

Mexico: The Market’s Response to Stagnation

Mexico faces a paradox. It was a pioneer with the Fintech Law of 2018, yet it experienced an “evolutionary stagnation” in secondary regulation. With 90% of transactions still conducted in cash and half of the population without a formal bank account, the potential for financial inclusion is enormous, but constrained by the lack of clear rules.

In response to regulatory paralysis, the market acted. CECOBAN, the local clearing house, launched an independent hub in partnership with Sensedia. This market-driven initiative connects banks and fintechs, filling the gap left by the government.

The CECOBAN initiative addresses, or seeks to mitigate, this stagnation in the following ways:

• Creation of Independent Infrastructure: In the absence of clear definitions from regulators (CNBV and Banxico) regarding data-sharing rules, CECOBAN, which already operates as a clearing house, created an Alternative Data Hub. Within it, banks, fintechs, and other participants can access market data and connect with companies, allowing the ecosystem to operate even without active government leadership.
• Technical Centralization and Directory: The hub functions as a centralized open finance directory, implementing critical capabilities that were missing from regulation, such as authentication servers, tokenization, and data access. CECOBAN itself developed the consent mechanisms required for operation.
• Technology Partnership: To enable this connectivity, CECOBAN relies on Sensedia as its technology partner, providing the API platform and integration solutions to expose services to the ecosystem.

It is important to note that the hub addresses the technical and security infrastructure challenges, delivering to banks a scalable and traceable way to access data. This initiative implements practices commonly used in modern financial systems with open finance regulation. This private initiative begins to evangelize the market around an architecture that accelerates the modernization of bank architectures, even before the formal definition and implementation of open finance in the country.

Brazil: The Tangible Value Laboratory

Brazil has moved beyond the basic implementation phase and entered an era of “practical use cases.” The focus is no longer solely on data sharing, but on transforming regulation into real value for consumers. 

The report highlights innovations planned for 2026, such as “Pix Automático,” a new automated recurring payment capability within Brazil’s instant payment system, that promises to replace traditional direct debit and reduce costs for recurring-payment businesses. In addition, Credit Portability, a regulated process that allows consumers to transfer loans between financial institutions under better conditions and is expected to reduce processing time from 20 to 5 business days.

In addition, the Non-Redirect Payment Journey (JSR), which enables users to authorize and complete payments without being redirected to external banking apps, and Pix by Proximity, which allows contactless payments via mobile devices, further consolidate the integration of payments and data, eliminating friction in the user experience. Brazil’s current challenge lies in expanding adoption among legal entities, where participation is only 3%, and improving data quality through the new Data Quality Index (DQI).

Colombia: Hybrid Leadership

Colombia emerges as a regional protagonist by adopting an approach that combines state regulation and private initiative. After a voluntary decree in 2022, the country is moving toward a mandatory model proposed by the Financial Regulation Unit (URF) in 2025.

One highlight of the Colombian model is market anticipation. Colombia created an Interoperable Open Finance Hub, a private infrastructure that allows participants to share data and access benefits even before regulation becomes mandatory. In parallel, the country modernized its payments infrastructure with the launch of the BRE-B instant payment system in October 2025, operating 24/7 with identifier keys similar to Pix.

Chile: Planned Structuring

Chile presents the most structured and predictable case in the region. With the Fintech Law enacted in 2023 and a defined roadmap for full implementation by 2027, the country focuses on clarity.

Chile’s differentiator lies in the depth of data and its testing model. Regulation provides for the exchange of consolidated debt data for individuals, which will drastically reduce reliance on traditional credit bureaus. In addition, the technological infrastructure adopts the use of mock banks in regulatory sandboxes, enabling safe testing without impacting real institutions in production, unlike the practice observed in Brazil.

A Shared Direction

Despite differing speeds, the report’s conclusion is optimistic. The region is moving in the same direction. Learning is cross-pollinated. Chile adopts Brazil’s directory structure, Colombia learns from Brazilian interoperability, and Brazil refines its data quality models.

The future of open finance in Latin America points to 2026 and 2027 as years of consolidation, where success will not be measured solely by the volume of APIs, but by convenience, security, and real impact on the financial lives of citizens and businesses.