Visa to Acquire Argentinian Paytech Firms Prisma and Newpay from Advent International

Visa Strengthens Presence in Argentina with Key Acquisitions

Visa (NYSE: V) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Argentinian paytech companies Prisma Medios de Pago S.A.U. and Newpay S.A.U. from global private equity firm Advent International. The strategic move, announced on February 19, 2026, is set to significantly bolster Visa's digital payments infrastructure and capabilities across Argentina. The transaction is anticipated to close in Visa's fiscal second quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Details of the Acquired Entities

The acquisition includes two pivotal players in Argentina's payments ecosystem:

• Prisma Medios de Pago: This entity specializes in issuer processing for credit, debit, and prepaid cards. It processes over six billion transactions annually and serves more than 70 issuers across 13 Latin American countries. Prisma was originally formed in 2014 through the merger of Visa Argentina and Banelco.
• Newpay: Operating multi-network infrastructure, Newpay provides essential services such as real-time payment capabilities, management of the extensive Banelco ATM network (comprising over 7,000 ATMs), and the popular bill payment platform PagoMisCuentas. Newpay handles approximately 300 million instant peer-to-peer transfers monthly.

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney stated, 'This acquisition is an important step for Visa in Argentina, strengthening our client partnerships and advancing innovation across the payments ecosystem.' He added that combining local expertise with Visa's global network would make payments 'simpler, faster, and more secure.'

Strategic Implications and Future Outlook

This acquisition underscores Visa's commitment to accelerating the adoption of innovative payment solutions for consumers and businesses in Argentina. The integration of Prisma's and Newpay's technology platforms with Visa's global network is expected to facilitate the deployment of advanced technologies, including:

• Tokenization
• Biometric authentication
• Intelligent risk tools
• Agentic commerce solutions

Gabriela Renaudo, Visa's Group Country Manager for Argentina and the Southern Cone, highlighted the 'significant opportunities to expand digital payments adoption and modernise financial services, capabilities and infrastructure across the country.' The combined platform is designed to offer agnostic processing, supporting any card brand processed by Prisma and all payment methods offered by Newpay.

Notably, the merchant acquiring business, Payway S.A.U., which was also part of the original Group Prisma under Advent International's ownership, is not included in this sale and will continue to operate independently under Advent's ownership. Advent International had initially acquired a majority stake in Group Prisma in 2019, a deal valued at $1.42 billion, and later secured full ownership in 2022.