- Mexican neobank Ualá has tapped DriveWealth’s fractional investing infrastructure to launch “Acciones,” enabling Mexican customers to invest in US stocks.
- The offering aims to expand investment access in Mexico, where only 4.4% of the population currently invests in financial instruments.
- For DriveWealth, the partnership continues to expand the reach of its brokerage infrastructure across Latin America.
Latin American neobank Banco Ualá has selected digital trading and brokerage company DriveWealth for its new launch called Acciones (Stocks) that will enable Mexican consumes to invest in US equities.
Leveraging DriveWealth’s brokerage-as-service platform that allows for fractional investing, Ualá allows users to invest in corporate shares starting at $1.12 ($20 MXN), enabling Mexican investors to own shares of companies like Apple, Amazon, and Tesla.
This new accessibility is a big deal in Mexico, a region in which only 4.4% of the population currently invests in any financial instrument. This low participation rate is partly due to the perceived complexity of investing and the assumption that investing is only available to those with significant capital. However, thanks to DriveWealth’s fractional investing infrastructure, Ualá can now allow customers to purchase fractions of US equities. This not only lowers barriers-to-entry, but it also allows investors to build diversified portfolios with smaller amounts of capital.
For DriveWealth, the launch is evidence of global demand for investment access to new markets. By powering fractional US stock investing for Ualá in Mexico, the company continues to expand the reach of its brokerage infrastructure across Latin America.
“DriveWealth was built to democratize access to financial independence and expand access to financial markets through trusted, regulated brokerage infrastructure,” said DriveWealth CEO Naureen Hassan. “Partnering with Ualá allows us to bring US equities to a broader population of investors in Mexico through a secure, fractional investing experience. We’re committed to working together to offer innovative investment solutions to Ualá customers, and helping make investing simple and inclusive, while maintaining the highest standards of execution, custody, and investor protection.”
Ualá’s Acciones (Stocks) onboards users after they answer a series of questions to determine their risk profile and receive portfolio recommendations. Investors will have the choice of three portfolio options, including US stocks and ETFs. To make investing even more approachable, the neobank will not charge any account opening or transaction fees.
“With the launch of Acciones, we are opening the doors of the global market to millions of Mexicans who previously saw these opportunities as unattainable,” said Ualá Regional Director of Wealth Management Pablo Savoldelli. “Now, starting from 20 pesos and with just a couple of clicks, our clients will be able to protect their savings, obtain dividends, and participate in the growth of the world’s largest companies.”
Ualá’s move is an example of how digital banks are expanding beyond payments and into broader financial tools such as lending and wealth-building. As more neobanks seek to deepen customer relationships and increase engagement, offering investment access is a natural next step.
DriveWealth was founded in 2012 to allow third parties to enable access to US equities, fixed income, and other asset classes through scalable, compliant solutions via its suite of APIs. Last year, the New York-based company teamed up with Moment Technology to make fixed-income investing more accessible to a broader range of investors, and partnered with Walmart’s OnePay to power the neobank’s embedded investing tool.
Photo by Erol Ahmed on Unsplash
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