Evertec Bets R$787 Million on Brazil’s Booming Car Loan Market

Evertec, a Puerto Rican financial technology company, has agreed to buy 75 percent of Brazil’s Tecnobank for R$787 million (about US$144 million).

Tecnobank manages the digital registry of vehicle-financing contracts, a mandatory step to secure car loans in Brazil. The deal still requires approval from the national antitrust regulator CADE and is expected to close in late 2025.

The company plays a critical role in Brazil’s credit system. When a car loan is issued, a registrar like Tecnobank records the lien to prevent the same vehicle from being financed twice. Once the debt is paid, it clears the record.

This digital registry infrastructure underpins billions in auto loans each year, and Tecnobank already operates in 16 Brazilian states through local traffic department authorizations.

This acquisition is not Evertec’s first step into Brazil. In 2023, it bought PaySmart, a payments processor, and Sinqia, a financial software provider, in deals worth nearly R$2.7 billion.

Adding Tecnobank lifts its total investment in the country to around R$3.5 billion in less than two years. The strategy is straightforward: Brazil’s car loan market is growing fast.

Evertec’s Bet on Brazil

According to official data from B3, the national stock exchange and credit registry, vehicle financing rose 20.4 percent in 2024. December alone recorded about 614,000 financed units, the highest for that month in a decade.

Such growth makes registries like Tecnobank indispensable. For Evertec, combining Sinqia’s banking software, PaySmart’s payments infrastructure, and Tecnobank’s registry creates a full-service technology platform for banks and lenders.

This integration could reduce paperwork, lower fraud risks, and speed up lending. Regulators remain the final hurdle. CADE will examine whether the acquisition changes competition in a sector where registries often hold state-level exclusivity.

Past cases have drawn attention from auditors, which means approval is not automatic. The deal shows how foreign fintechs see Brazil as a core growth market.

With a young population, strong demand for credit, and digital processes replacing paper-based systems, the country offers scale and returns that are rare elsewhere.

If the acquisition proceeds, Evertec will control a significant piece of the infrastructure behind one of Latin America’s largest credit markets.

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