For years, Evertec’s leadership said the company’s future would extend beyond Puerto Rico. Once a payments processor tied almost entirely to its home market, Evertec has become one of Latin America’s most influential financial technology providers through acquisitions, organic growth, and calculated risks in markets where others hesitated.
“When I started at Evertec in 2012, 2013, our revenue was about $300 million,” Chief Operating Officer Joaquín Castrillo told Caribbean Business. “This year, for the first time, we expect to be above a billion dollars in revenue.”
The transformation is also geographic, strategic, and cultural, reshaping Evertec into a regional player with ambitions far beyond its Caribbean roots.
From a Puerto Rico‑centric business to a diversified regional enterprise
A decade ago, Evertec derived roughly 90% of its revenue from Puerto Rico. Today, Latin America represents nearly 45% of the company’s business. The shift is the result of a deliberate strategy built on two pillars: organic growth and strategic acquisitions.
“In 2014, Latin America represented only 10% of the company,” Castrillo said. “This year, with the acquisitions we’ve made and the organic growth we’ve achieved, Latin America will represent almost 45%.”
The company’s early expansion focused on Central America, where Evertec already had clients and could grow organically. But entering larger, more complex markets — Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile — required a different approach. “In some countries it was difficult to create the level of growth at the speed we wanted without acquisitions,” he explained.
That realization set off a multiyear acquisition strategy that would redefine Evertec’s footprint.
Early expansion centered on Central America, where existing clients supported organic growth. Larger, more complex markets—Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile—required acquisitions to achieve the desired speed, Castrillo said.
Brazil: A billion‑dollar bet
No market better illustrates Evertec’s ambition than Brazil, where it has invested nearly $1 billion and built a major fintech platform through acquisitions including Sinqia and Dimensa.
“Brazil is extremely important for us,” Castrillo said. “We’re one of the most important financial technology providers in the country.”
Dimensa expanded Evertec into core systems for insurance brokers and insurers, a capability it may take to other markets, while strengthening investment-fund technology, where Sinqia was already strong.
The combined business, now Evertec Brasil, is a technology-export hub whose platforms already operate in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru.
Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru: The next engines of growth
With Brazil established, Evertec is focusing on other high-growth markets where it already has offices. The company already operates in some 26 countries.
Mexico is a top priority. Evertec recently signed a major contract with CLIP, one of the country’s fastest-growing digital-payments companies, serves clients across several states, and is exploring organic expansion and acquisitions.
Colombia was Evertec’s first acquisition outside Puerto Rico, in 2015. Growth lagged initially, but momentum has accelerated; Evertec now works with Grupo Aval, one of the country’s largest financial conglomerates.
“We’re seeing much more traction,” Castrillo said, anticipating new project announcements in the coming year.
Chile may be Evertec’s strongest strategic success after Brazil. It processes payments for GetNet, Santander’s payments subsidiary, and Banco de Chile, the country’s largest bank, while executing a major project with Transbank, Chile’s largest acquirer and one of Latin America’s top five.
Peru is smaller but growing through projects with major financial institutions. Across highly regulated markets—from Brazil’s complex financial system to Chile’s stringent payments environment—Evertec treats regulation as an advantage, not an obstacle.
“We’ve always worked with top-tier banks,” Castrillo said, citing long-standing Puerto Rican relationships that helped make Evertec a trusted partner for regulators and financial institutions regionwide.
Financing the expansion: A sophisticated debt strategy
Evertec funds its acquisitions through a mix of institutional debt and traditional banking facilities. The company maintains a syndicate of banks and institutional investors, with Truist leading the Term Loan B structure.
“We have over a billion dollars in debt,” Castrillo said, “but when you look at our cash flow and income, we’re still in a very comfortable range.”
Puerto Rican banks, including Banco Popular, FirstBank, and Oriental, participate in the Term Loan A facility, alongside U.S. institutions such as Citizens Bank and Fifth Third Bank.
The financing structure is designed to give Evertec flexibility to pursue acquisitions quickly when opportunities arise.
Artificial intelligence: The next transformation
Evertec is integrating artificial intelligence across its operations. It has two AI centers of excellence—in Puerto Rico and Brazil—and requires every business unit to develop specific use cases.
“All our development groups are using AI,” Castrillo said. “It’s making us much more agile.”
AI is also entering products such as fraud monitoring and credit scoring. Mexican acquisition Grandata uses telecom data and AI-enhanced models to generate credit scores for consumers outside the formal banking system.
Evertec now employs more people in Latin America than in Puerto Rico: over 2,000 in Brazil and more than 300 across Chile, Uruguay, and Colombia, within a global workforce of about 5,000.
Asked how he envisions Evertec’s future, Castrillo didn’t hesitate: “Stronger than it is today.”
The company aims to become the most relevant financial technology provider in Latin America, leveraging the rise of digital payments, fintech innovation, regulatory modernization, and artificial intelligence.
“We’re constantly looking for ways to add value and become the technology provider for the most important financial sectors in the region,” he said
