iGB Q&A: Building differently in LatAm’s payments future
Summary
Edward Chandler, CEO of OKTO, explains how the company is approaching Latin America as a testing ground for the next era of payments. OKTO emphasises an AI-native, precision-engineered model — called “Precision Mode” — that focuses on the essentials: localised high-conversion methods, instant settlements, automated compliance and resilient infrastructure for high-volume, low-latency iGaming environments.
The interview covers how AI reduces onboarding time, improves fraud detection and optimises routing; how compliance-by-design lets merchants pivot quickly across volatile LatAm regulations; and why local payment methods and instant rails (PIX, SPEI, CVU) will drive the next disruption, reducing reliance on cards.
Key Points
- OKTO positions LatAm as a proving ground for payments innovation, not a frontier to be tamed.
- Precision Mode focuses on doing fewer things extremely well: instant pay-ins/payouts, reliable settlement and treasury tools that simplify liquidity and FX.
- OKTO is AI-native across the stack: predictive fraud, automated KYC/KYB, intelligent routing and real-time regulatory parsing.
- Automated onboarding has reduced go-live timelines by up to 60% and accelerated go-to-market speeds significantly for merchants.
- Compliance-by-design enables rapid adaptation to regulatory changes, letting merchants pivot in hours rather than months.
- In H1, the OKTO platform processed over €6 billion (£5.2bn) across LatAm and launched 10 key local payment methods in core markets.
- Real-world impact: one Brazilian iGaming partner saw acceptance rates rise by nearly three percentage points within two quarters, translating into millions in extra deposits.
- Prediction: the next three years will see instant payments, embedded finance and AI personalisation converge — local payment methods will replace cards as the backbone of commerce in LatAm.
Content summary
Chandler argues that winning in LatAm requires precision engineering rather than broad feature lists. OKTO’s model narrows focus to methods with the highest conversion per market and builds reliability into reconciliation, liquidity orchestration and settlement.
AI is not a bolt-on: it drives fraud prevention, onboarding automation, routing and merchant support. OKTO’s merchant-centric product development uses “Merchant Excellence Pods” to translate operator KPIs into engineering priorities. Operational resilience is delivered via 24/7 monitoring, intelligent failover and infrastructure tuned for peak events.
On regulation, OKTO embeds compliance into its architecture so merchants can scale across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru without long delays. The company foresees a shift away from card rails to instant local payment methods — and is building instant-ready, API-first infrastructure to capture that shift.
Context and relevance
Why this matters: LatAm is a fragmented, high-growth region where small improvements in acceptance or speed can yield large revenue swings. For payments teams, platforms and iGaming operators, OKTO’s approach highlights two big trends: the centrality of local payment rails (PIX, SPEI, CVU) and the operational importance of AI-driven automation and compliance.
For commercial and product leads, the article underlines a practical playbook: pick high-conversion local methods, automate compliance and invest in routing/treasury capabilities to protect margins and uptime. For regulators and banks, it signals the growing dominance of non-card rails and the need to support real-time rails safely.
Why should I read this?
Short version: if you sell, build or operate payments in LatAm (especially iGaming), this is gold. Chandler lays out concrete moves that actually affect conversion, onboarding time and settlement reliability — the three things that make or break revenue in the region. We’ve skimmed the interview and saved you the time: read it if you want the practical angle on why local rails and AI matter now, not later.
Author style
Punchy. This piece is written for people who need tactical advantage — it stresses measurable merchant outcomes and operational priorities. If LatAm payments are relevant to you, the detail here is worth diving into.
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