Pomelo
Pomelo is a Latin American fintech that provides an API-first, cloud-native card issuing, processing, and BIN sponsorship platform for banks, fintechs, and global enterprises across six countries, with proprietary issuer licenses, AI-driven operations, and stablecoin-native payment capabilities.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersBuenos Aires, Argentina
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Pomelo does
Pomelo is a Latin American financial technology company that provides a modular, API-first, cloud-native card payments infrastructure platform for banks, fintechs, and global enterprises. Founded in Buenos Aires in 2021 by alumni of Naranja X, Mercado Pago, and Mastercard, the company orchestrates the full card lifecycle — issuing (credit, debit, prepaid, multi-currency), real-time processing, BIN sponsorship, tokenization (Apple Pay and Google Pay certified), risk management (integrating FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, 3-D Secure, Dynamic CVV), and AI-driven chargeback management — through a single platform that operates in six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru) under proprietary issuer licenses, including CMF authorization in Chile and PCI-DSS 4.0 certification.
The platform is organized around five primary modules — Pomelo Issuing, Pomelo Processing, BIN Sponsorship, the Risk Management Platform, and the AI-powered Pomelo Dashboard — under a cross-cutting Pomelo AI layer that automates onboarding, powers an AI-driven Dashboard, supports conversational CX workflows, and handles code generation internally. Pomelo has expanded its product surface to include printing and logistics, a points and cashback loyalty module, AI-driven chargeback management, Mastercard Agent Pay participation, and a planned stablecoin-native global card settled initially with Circle's USDC. The company serves more than 150 corporate clients including Santander, BBVA, Bancolombia, Binance, Western Union, Stori, Rappi, DiDi, Kavak, and Mercado Pago ecosystem companies.
Pomelo's commercial model is transaction-based with mostly variable costs (per Western Union/Pago Fácil characterization) and quote-based pricing accessed via a "Contact us" form. Revenue is derived from card issuing and processing fees, tokenization-as-a-service, risk management and fraud prevention, printing and logistics, and issuer licensing across multiple jurisdictions. The company has raised approximately US$160M across seed, Series A, Series A extension, Series B, and Series C rounds, reached a US$1B+ valuation (unicorn status) in 2026, and reported 250%+ revenue growth over the two years through 2026 alongside 8x year-over-year transaction volume growth in 2024.
Pomelo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pomelo
- Legal name
- Pomelo Fintech Services S.A.S.
- Website
- https://pomelo.la
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Pomelo is a Latin American fintech that provides an API-first, cloud-native card issuing, processing, and BIN sponsorship platform for banks, fintechs, and global enterprises across six countries, with proprietary issuer licenses, AI-driven operations, and stablecoin-native payment capabilities.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Pomelo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Buenos Aires
- HQ country
- Argentina
- HQ region
- Latin America
Offices5 records
Markets served
Pomelo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Card issuing and processing fees: Revenue derived from API-based card issuing, real-time transaction processing, BIN sponsorship, and program management for banks, fintechs, and enterprises across Latin America. Variable-cost/transaction-based commercial model cited by customer Western Union: 'flexible, with mostly variable costs.'
- Tokenization and digital wallet services: Revenue from tokenization-as-a-service for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets, plus card-on-file and click-to-pay integration.
- Risk management and fraud prevention services: Revenue from FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, 3DS, Dynamic CVV, and other risk/security modules provided to issuers and processors.
- Printing & logistics for physical cards: Revenue from end-to-end card design, certified partner printing, stock management, and last-mile logistics services.
- Issuer licensing in new markets: Monetization from providing issuer licenses across multiple Latin American countries enabling regional expansion for clients like Stori, AstroPay, and Hotmart.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Quote-based, variable-cost engagement |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Pomelo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pomelo provides a modular, API-first, cloud-native card payments infrastructure platform that enables banks, fintechs, and enterprises to issue, process, tokenize, and manage payment cards across Latin America. The platform consolidates card issuing, real-time processing, BIN sponsorship, chargeback management, and risk management into a single operating layer, with an AI layer (Pomelo AI) powering automation and a developer-facing API portal for integration.
Product overview
Pomelo offers a single, modular, API-first, cloud-native card payments platform rather than a monolithic product. At the core sits the Pomelo Platform, which orchestrates five primary modules — Pomelo Issuing, Pomelo Processing, BIN Sponsorship, the Risk Management Platform (which embeds FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, 3DS, and Dynamic CVV), and the AI-powered Pomelo Dashboard — under a cross-cutting Pomelo AI layer. Issuing breaks down into Credit Card, Debit Card, Prepaid Card, Tokenization (for Apple Pay and Google Pay), and Printing & Logistics sub-products; Processing provides real-time authorization with credit core and loyalty capabilities; BIN Sponsorship bundles BIN access with AI-driven Chargeback Management. The platform supports a broad portfolio of use cases including Processor Upgrade, Regional Expansion, Crypto Wallets, Co-Branded Cards, Investech, Stablecoin Payments, Instant Funding, Remittances, Corporate Cards, Engagement & Rewards, Global Cards, Single-use cards, Traditional Banking, and Neobanks across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Pomelo AI: AI layer powering onboarding and daily operations across the Pomelo platform, automating processes and accelerating time-to-market.
Products and services
- Pomelo Platform Core cloud-native card payments infrastructure that orchestrates issuing, processing, BIN sponsorship, and risk management into a single operating layer for banks, fintechs, and global enterprises.
- Pomelo Issuing Card issuance module supporting physical, virtual, and digital credit, debit, prepaid, multi-currency, and multi-application cards across Visa, Mastercard, and local networks.
- Pomelo Processing Real-time card transaction processing module with credit core, portfolio migration tools, loyalty engine, and stand-in processing capabilities.
- BIN Sponsorship BIN sponsorship and network management module enabling clients to launch card programs under Pomelo's BIN relationships with card networks.
- Risk Management Platform Risk and fraud management module combining FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, 3-D Secure, and Dynamic CVV to protect transactions across card programs.
- Tokenization Certified tokenization service enabling cards for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and major digital wallets via push provisioning, manual provisioning, card-on-file e-commerce, and click-to-pay flows.
- Printing & Logistics End-to-end physical card design, printing, and delivery service with network validation, certified partners, stock management, automated replenishment, and real-time shipment tracking.
- Pomelo Loyalty Points and cashback loyalty program module for card programs, integrated into the Pomelo Issuing platform.
- Stablecoin-native Global Card Announced native global card settled with stablecoins (initially USDC), supporting cross-border real-time payments and crypto-to-fiat conversion at the point of purchase.
Quantifiable outcome
- 250%+ revenue growth over two years (as of 2026)
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Pomelo
Customer profileNamed customers38 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Pomelo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability8 records
Feature10 records
Pomelo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- MastercardflagshipStrategic network partner; Pomelo integrated as issuer/processor in Mastercard's live agentic payment transactions across Latin America and the Caribbean (March 2026) and won Mastercard Engage Excellence Awards. Co-developed Agent Pay infrastructure.
- VisaflagshipCard network partner; Pomelo Tech Chile S.A. authorized by CMF to issue Visa-branded non-banking payment cards; co-awarded Visa & La Nación Innovation Award.
- FICOcoreTechnology partner; Pomelo integrates FICO Falcon Fraud Prevention Manager into its Risk Management Platform offering.
- AWScoreCloud infrastructure provider; Pomelo runs eks-us-east-1, eks-us-west-2, apigateway-us-east-1, apigateway-us-west-2 on AWS per the company status page.
- CloudflarecoreEdge/DNS/Firewall provider; Pomelo uses Cloudflare Authoritative DNS, Firewall, and Network as part of its infrastructure per the company status page.
- Circle (USDC)flagshipStablecoin partner; Pomelo's planned global stablecoin card will initially use Circle's USDC for settlement.
- DockcoreIndustry peer and co-participant in Mastercard agentic payment live transactions across LatAm and the Caribbean.
- Prosa / Servibanca networkscoreLocal card network and processor integrations used by Pomelo to operate in Brazil (Prosa), Colombia (Servibanca), Argentina, and Mexico per the status page regional service groups.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pomelo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Marqeta: Marqeta is the leading global API-first card-issuing and processing platform, serving neobanks, fintechs, and enterprises. It is the closest direct peer to Pomelo in core functionality (issuing, processing, tokenization) though it focuses on US/global markets while Pomelo specializes in LatAm.
- Galileo Financial Technologies (SoFi): Galileo is a global card-issuing and payments-processing platform owned by SoFi, offering issuing, BIN sponsorship, processing, and fraud APIs. Comparable to Pomelo across the full card lifecycle stack but with broader global reach.
- Stripe Issuing: Stripe Issuing enables businesses to create and manage virtual and physical cards via API. It is a direct competitor in the developer-led, API-first card-issuing space, with deeper resources and a global footprint that Pomelo is now intersecting with in LatAm.
- Lithic: Lithic is an API-first card-issuing platform targeting fintechs with virtual and physical card issuance, BIN sponsorship, and processing. It overlaps with Pomelo's developer-led, API-first issuance product for fintech and crypto customers.
- Dock: Dock is a LatAm-focused card-issuing and payments infrastructure provider; it co-participated with Pomelo in Mastercard's agentic payment live transactions across Latin America and the Caribbean, making it the closest regional head-to-head peer.
- Pismo: Pismo (acquired by Visa) provides cloud-native core banking and issuing/processing APIs to banks and fintechs in LatAm and globally. It competes with Pomelo on the processing and card-management layer for incumbent bank customers.
Broad incumbents
- Adyen: Adyen is a global payments platform offering acquiring, processing, and increasingly issuing capabilities. While broader in scope, its processing and platform ambitions overlap with Pomelo's modular processing and credit core offering for large enterprise and bank clients.
- EBANX: EBANX is a LatAm cross-border payments specialist offering processing, acquiring, and increasingly card-issuing-adjacent infrastructure. Comparable to Pomelo as a LatAm-focused payments platform serving global enterprises entering the region.
Emerging players
- Belvo: Belvo is a LatAm open banking and financial data API platform enabling account aggregation, payments initiation, and KYC. It is an adjacent infrastructure player serving many of the same fintech and bank clients as Pomelo.
Regional players
- Conductor (formerly PagSeguro PagBank): Conductor is a Brazil-based payment processor and technology provider offering acquiring, processing, and card-management solutions for banks and large enterprises in Brazil. Comparable regional processing infrastructure peer within Pomelo's largest LatAm market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Pomelo social profiles
Digital presencePomelo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Pomelo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pomelo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Pomelo subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Pomelo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors32 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pomelo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pomelo
What does Pomelo do?
Pomelo provides a modular, API-first, cloud-native card payments infrastructure platform that enables banks, fintechs, and enterprises to issue, process, tokenize, and manage payment cards across Latin America. The platform consolidates card issuing, real-time processing, BIN sponsorship, chargeback management, and risk management into a single operating layer, with an AI layer (Pomelo AI) powering automation and a developer-facing API portal for integration.
Is Pomelo a public or private company?
Pomelo is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pomelo founded?
Pomelo was founded in 2021. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Pomelo based?
Pomelo is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the Latin America region.
How does Pomelo make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Card issuing and processing fees are the primary driver. The others are tokenization and digital wallet services, risk management and fraud prevention services, printing & logistics for physical cards and issuer licensing in new markets.
Who are Pomelo's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Marqeta, Galileo Financial Technologies (SoFi), Stripe Issuing, Lithic, Dock and Pismo. Broad incumbents are Adyen and EBANX. Belvo is listed as an emerging player. Conductor (formerly PagSeguro PagBank) is listed as a regional player.
Does Pomelo have an API?
Yes. Pomelo offers a public, API-first platform for partners and enterprise clients to build, launch, operate, and scale card programs. The API supports card issuance (credit, debit, prepaid), tokenization (including Token Requestor ID for Apple Pay and Google Pay), processing, BIN sponsorship, chargeback management, and integration with card networks such as Mastercard and Visa. A sandbox/test environment is provided at the developer portal, along with a documentation site and a client dashboard. Developer documentation is at developers.pomelo.la/api-reference.