UAE Business: IHC enters LatAm with $200m investment in Colombian bank – Gulf Digital News

UAE Business: IHC enters LatAm with $200m investment in Colombian bank – Gulf Digital News

International Holding Company, the diversified Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate, today (October 10) announced a capital investment of AED734 million ($200 million) in Lulo Colombia, which is also the holding company of Colombia’s first regulated digital bank, Lulo Bank, through one of IHC’s subsidiaries.

One of the fast-growing banks and a new player entering the field of neobanks in the Colombian market, Lulo Bank was founded by Jaime Gilinski, a Colombian businessman with over 45 years of banking experience in Latin America, North America, and Europe. It now plans to expand into other Latin American markets.

According to IHC, the Colombia is the fourth global market in which IHC has expanded its investment activities into this year after the United Kingdom, India and Turkey.

"The fintech ecosystem in Latin America has risen quickly over the past couple of years with sustained growth observed in all segments and in the number of active fintech companies, especially digital banking which has witnessed the most substantial growth at an average annual rate of 57% between 2017 and 2021 to reach 60%," said its CEO Syed Basar Shueb on the strategic acquisition.

"In the case of Colombia, it has made significant progress in terms of financial inclusion with the increase