LATAM Alternative Credit Data Report – Signals Available to Lenders

The RiskSeal research team developed this report to help LATAM credit providers navigate one of the region’s most persistent challenges: underwriting thin-file and no-file applicants.

Across Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and other markets, traditional credit bureaus remain incomplete.

At the same time, millions of consumers leave rich digital footprints through their devices, networks, emails, shopping habits, and online identities.

These patterns often reveal more about repayment behavior and authenticity than bureau files alone.

This report shows lenders how to use those signals. It explains which alternative data sources matter most, what each one says about a borrower, and how they can help increase approvals while reducing risk.

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Executive summary: key digital risk insights in LATAM

The points below summarize the key insights fintechs need to understand LATAM’s digital risk environment and how to act on them.

1. Digital coverage and data gaps

More than 75% of LATAM is online, with most interactions happening on mobile devices.

Despite this reach, many borrowers remain thin-file or no-file, especially in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and rural segments.

These borrowers leave strong digital traces (devices, IPs, email, social, e-commerce) but weak or fragmented bureau histories.

For lenders, this means traditional files alone understate both risk and opportunity in large parts of the market.

2. Fraud surface and data quality

Fraud pressure is rising, driven by VPNs, VoIP, public Wi-Fi, and fast-growing betting and crypto-style platforms.

Network, device, and identity data vary widely in quality: long-lived phones, emails, and stable IP patterns are far more reliable than disposable numbers, free VPNs, or new accounts.

Unregulated channels (certain gambling, VoIP, and payment flows) carry a higher rate of synthetic identities, bonus abuse, and money laundering attempts

For risk teams, the challenge is to separate normal mobile-first behavior from patterns that show manipulation, anonymity, or stress.

3. How fintechs can use digital signals now

Digital footprints provide three critical lenses:

• Stability (long-lived devices, numbers, emails, subscriptions)
• Identity consistency (names, avatars, locations, and domains that match across platforms)
• Behavioral depth (regular e-commerce, messaging, and spending that fits income and profile).

Used together, these signals improve underwriting by filling gaps for thin-file borrowers, sharpen fraud detection in real time, and support ongoing portfolio monitoring.

For lenders today, the takeaway is clear: build decisions that combine bureau data with device, network, email, web, and behavioral signals.

This is how you approve more good customers, catch high-risk profiles earlier, and grow safely in LATAM’s digital credit market.

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LATAM digital landscape: population, access & credit gaps

This report focuses on Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and selected Central American markets. These countries represent the core of LATAM’s 670M population and digital economy.

Economic conditions differ sharply across countries, shaping access to devices, connectivity, and online services.

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The region’s urban-rural divide remains significant. Roughly 85% of consumers are highly urbanized and digitally active, while the remaining 15% are largely mobile-only and leave lighter online footprints.

The data presented comes from RiskSeal’s hands-on work with LATAM lenders. We also gathered information from other reputable sources – telecom providers, digital platforms, and market research firms.

Taken together, these structural differences shape the volume, quality, and consistency of digital risk signals available in each market.

For credit organizations, this directly influences where alternative data can meaningfully improve applicant assessment, reduce blind spots in thin-file populations, and unlock safer growth.

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Connectivity in LATAM: internet & smartphone penetration

A closer look at how connectivity and device access shape digital participation across the region.

Internet penetration

• High internet penetration. Internet penetration across LATAM averages 77–78%, with leading countries such as Chile (~94%), Argentina (~89%), and Brazil (~84%) well above the regional baseline.‍
• Brazil leads. Brazil has the largest digital population in the region, with ~183 million internet users as of early 2025 – more than Mexico and Argentina combined.‍
• Strong mobile internet growth. In 2024, LATAM had an estimated 413 million mobile internet users, representing about 65% of the region's population.‍
• Expensive broadband access. Broadband connections remain expensive, costing 66% more than OECD averages, limiting use among lower-income households.

Higher internet penetration expands the volume of usable digital signals, but uneven access means many applicants still maintain thin or inconsistent digital footprints.

Lenders must adapt risk models to account for these gaps. Especially when serving lower-income or mobile-only populations.

Device penetration

• High smartphone adoption. Smartphone penetration reached 70–75% of the LATAM population in 2023 and continues to grow. Feature phones are declining but still common in lower-income groups.
  
• Samsung and Motorola dominate. Samsung leads with 18% market share, followed closely by Motorola at 17%. Apple holds 14%, driven by higher-income users, while Xiaomi has declined to 11%.
  
• Android remains the default. Android holds ~83% share in major markets like Brazil, while iOS represents roughly 16–17% of devices.
  
• Older devices increase risk exposure. Legacy smartphones remain common among unbanked users, contributing to rising fraud. Stolen-device fraud jumped 49% in early 2025, and mobile-malware account takeover continues to grow.

Device types strongly influence the quality of alternative data and the types of fraud signals available.

High Android usage provides a rich but varied data landscape, while older devices signal both higher risk and lower data reliability.

Fintechs and neobanks that factor device usage into scoring can detect fraud earlier and better differentiate genuine thin-file applicants from high-risk profiles.

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Email footprints in LATAM: adoption, domains & risk signals

Email sits at the center of LATAM’s digital ecosystem, and its patterns provide rich insight into user behavior.

Email adoption

• Email adoption keeps rising. LATAM now has roughly 450–500 million email users, and adoption is expected to surpass 500 million by late 2025 as mobile internet access expands.
  
• Urban areas lead adoption. Higher-income regions show 70–90% email usage, while rural adoption remains lower but is growing fast. E.g., Peru’s rural email use increased from ~36% in 2018 to ~77% in 2022.
  
• Strong engagement among adults. Email usage is highest among adults aged 25–54, where 60–80% of internet users send and receive emails regularly. Engagement drops sharply among teens.
  
• Income shapes usage patterns. Higher-income users rely on email daily and show near-universal adoption. Lower-income groups often create accounts only to access government services or social platforms.

Email domain landscape

• Outlook leads regional usage. Live.com remains the most popular email domain across major LATAM markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, with Gmail close behind.
  
• Mobile-first behavior boosts Gmail. Growing smartphone adoption continues to drive Gmail usage, while Outlook, Yahoo, and older domains like Hotmail remain common in markets such as Chile and Argentina.
  
• Local providers continue to decline. Domestic email services hold less than 5% share as users shift to global, cloud-based providers offering better security, storage, and cross-device sync.
  
• iCloud remains niche. iCloud accounts represent 5–10% of email usage, mainly among higher-income iPhone users, but overall adoption stays low due to Android’s dominance.
  
• Email breaches remain significant. LATAM accounts for roughly 10–15% of global breached email volumes (1.5–2 million in H1 2025), and 78% of regional businesses report email-related compromises.
  
• Free domains overwhelmingly dominate. Free, portable domains make up 90–95% of all email usage, while ISP-based domains fall below 5% as consumers favor mobile-friendly identities.

Email behavior offers some of the strongest alternative risk signals in LATAM.

New or rarely used accounts, mismatched domains, and records found in breach databases often indicate weaker identity strength or elevated fraud risk.

The region’s high share of leaked emails increases the value of checking whether an applicant’s identity is consistent across platforms and whether their email has a trustworthy history.

And because 90–95% of users rely on free, portable domains, lenders should expect wide variability in quality.

It is essential to analyze account age, activity patterns, and cross-service presence to separate stable identities from newly created or high-risk ones.

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Mobile & carrier data in LATAM: what numbers reveal about risk

With mobile access nearly universal, phone data provides a deep look into how LATAM consumers stay connected.

Mobile penetration

• SIM connections exceed population size. LATAM supports roughly 750 million SIM connections in 2025 (about 112% penetration), as many users keep multiple lines for better coverage or pricing.
  
• Mobile access is widespread. Unique mobile subscribers reach around 470 million, or 70% of the population, though service quality remains uneven across regions.
  
• Smartphone lines now dominate. About 75% of all connections (~562 million) come from smartphones, driven by affordable Android devices and expanding 5G across 13 countries.
  
• Prepaid remains the default model. Prepaid accounts make up 80–85% of all lines (roughly 600–640 million), while postpaid holds 15–20%, mostly among higher-income urban users.
  
• Churn rates stay high. Annual churn reaches 25–30% across the region, with Brazil nearing 40% due to widespread SIM-swapping for promotions and data offers.

Carrier landscape

• Two carriers dominate the region. América Móvil and Telefónica control roughly 60% of LATAM’s mobile market, strengthened by ongoing 5G rollout.
  
• Number portability keeps rising. Users can switch carriers without changing numbers, improving consumer choice but complicating line-age and ownership checks for risk teams.
  
• VoIP adoption accelerates. VoIP and virtual numbers now account for 10–15% of business lines (50M+), growing about 25% year over year due to remote work and e-commerce expansion.
  
• VoIP expands fraud risk. Losses tied to VoIP-related fraud reach $1–2B annually in LATAM, driven by spoofing, SIM-swap attempts, and identity theft via virtual credentials.

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Phone data can reveal how stable and trustworthy an applicant’s identity is. Frequent SIM changes, prepaid lines, and short line age often signal weaker reliability.

Rising use of VoIP and virtual numbers increases exposure to spoofing and SIM-swap fraud, making carrier type and number history essential checks.

Lenders that analyze these patterns can better distinguish genuine consumers from risky or synthetic profiles.

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IP & network behavior in LATAM: stability, VPNs & fraud exposure

IP and network patterns offer some of the clearest clues about applicant stability, risk, and authenticity.

IP infrastructure

• Dynamic IPs dominate usage. Around 90–95% of residential and mobile connections rely on dynamic IPs, with major pools from América Móvil and Telefónica serving over 300 million users in Brazil and Mexico alone.
  
• Static IPs remain niche. Fewer than 5–10% of connections use static IPs, mostly business plans costing an additional $20–50 per month for hosting, VoIP, or compliance-heavy workloads.
  
• IPv6 adoption continues to grow. Regional IPv6 usage sits near 40%, with countries like Chile reaching roughly 50% dynamic IPv6 rollout as ISPs stretch beyond limited IPv4 availability.
  
• Public Wi-Fi plays a major role. About 25–30% of internet sessions in urban areas occur over public Wi-Fi, with LATAM hosting around 100 million hotspots in 2025—roughly 10–15% of all global hotspots.
  
• Open networks increase security risk. Nearly 40% of network attacks in the region stem from public Wi-Fi, often through man-in-the-middle tactics exploiting outdated routers and unsecured access points.

VPN and proxy usage

• VPN use is widespread. VPN penetration in LATAM ranges from 23–31% of internet users (about 120–150 million people), with around 40% using VPNs at least weekly.
  
• Mobile VPNs reflect regional habits. Roughly 19% of VPN sessions occur on mobile devices, driven by Android’s dominance and the region’s mobile-first internet usage.
  
• Entertainment drives most usage. About 55% of users rely on VPNs for content access, 30% for privacy or security, and 15% for work-related activity.
  
• VPN traffic overlaps with fraud. Between 10–20% of VPN and proxy activity is tied to scams, contributing to more than $1B in losses in 2025 through phishing, vishing, and IP-masked attacks.
  
• Free VPNs pose higher risk. Free tools hold 40–50% market share but are more likely to log data, sell traffic, and appear in risky behavior patterns that fraud teams must watch closely.

IP behavior shows how stable and trustworthy a session really is. Dynamic IPs, public Wi-Fi, and frequent VPN use often indicate weaker identity assurance or higher exposure to manipulation.

Patterns like masked IPs, risky proxies, or inconsistent geolocation can signal fraud attempts or synthetic behavior.

Credit institutions that evaluate network quality, IP history, and connection context gain a stronger view of applicant authenticity and can block high-risk sessions earlier in the funnel.

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LATAM social media & messengers: platforms, demographics, risks

Understanding which platforms dominate daily life helps explain many digital behaviors we see in the region.

Platform popularity

• WhatsApp dominates regional communication. The app reaches 420 million users with over 90% penetration in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. Far ahead of Facebook’s 360M and Instagram’s 290M users.
  
• TikTok rises toward the top. The platform is now the #2 or #3 social app in several countries, reaching 70% of internet users in Colombia and about 70 million users in Mexico.
  
• Facebook stays strong with older audiences. The platform maintains 80–85% daily or weekly usage among people aged 35–55+, especially in rural and suburban regions.
  
• Global platforms control the social graph. LATAM has no meaningful local social networks in 2025; nearly 100% of usage goes to global players.

The table shows the top three social platforms per country by monthly users and penetration, including WhatsApp as a core messaging/social app.

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Demographic segmentation

• WhatsApp spans all age groups. Daily or weekly usage reaches 95% of Gen Z, 92% of Millennials, 85% of Gen X, and 70% of Boomers, making it the most cross-generational platform in LATAM.
  
• TikTok and Instagram dominate youth behavior. Around 85–90% of users aged 16–24 use these apps frequently, compared to only 20–40% among adults over 35.
  
• Facebook grows with age and geography. Usage rises to 80–85% among adults 35–55+ and remains a primary platform in rural and lower-income areas.
  
• Urban regions show high social saturation. Cities reach 80–90% social penetration, with TikTok and Instagram driving discovery, trends, and shopping behavior.
  
• Rural regions rely on Facebook and WhatsApp. Social use sits at 50–70%, centered on community updates, news, and messaging.
  
• Rural adoption is accelerating. In Peru, rural social usage climbed from 37% to 77% between 2018 and 2022, driven by expanding mobile internet access.

The table below shows regional averages for daily or weekly platform usage by age group, expressed as the percentage of users in each segment.

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Youth favor visual and short-form (TikTok/Instagram), while adults and older use Facebook and WhatsApp for community news. YouTube has a cross-gen popularity (16% consistent).

The table shows regional averages for social media usage across urban and rural populations, expressed as the share of users active daily or weekly.

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Social and messaging profiles help lenders confirm whether a borrower’s digital behavior is consistent with their age, location, and lifestyle.

Active, long-standing accounts make it easier to validate identity and spot red flags.

When applicants have no social presence or only very new accounts, it becomes harder to verify who they are. This raises the likelihood of fraud or unstable repayment behavior.

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Online shopping trails in LATAM: what they reveal about borrowers

E-commerce has become one of the clearest windows into how LATAM consumers shop, pay, and build their digital identities.

Platform penetration

• Mercado Libre leads e-commerce. The platform holds 55% of the regional market and attracts 321 million monthly shoppers, far ahead of Amazon’s 16–18% share.
  
• Mobile channels drive most transactions. About 73% of orders come from apps or mobile devices, and m-commerce now represents 57% of all purchases.
  
• Local players still hold strategic ground. Magazine Luiza maintains 5–7% share in Brazil, while Linio remains active in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia, and Falabella leads in the Southern Cone.
  
• Apps outperform traditional web traffic. Mobile apps continue to grow at 13% year over year, while desktop traffic remains flat or declines.
  
• Niche platforms show strong traction. Fashion-focused marketplaces like Dafiti draw over 30 million visits per month in Brazil, reflecting depth even within a region dominated by major players.

The table highlights the most popular e-commerce platforms in LATAM and the key strengths that drive consumer adoption across the region.

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Let’s now look at the non-global marketplaces that dominate locally in each country, especially in fashion and other niche categories.

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Behavioral insights from online shopping

• Shoppers buy more frequently each year. Active buyers make 3–4 purchases per month on average, with urban purchase frequency rising 15–20% year over year.
  
• Cards remain the primary payment method. Cards account for about 48% of e-commerce payments. Alternative methods exceed 40%, driven by Pix, digital wallets, and BNPL tools.
  
• Wallet adoption accelerates rapidly. In Argentina, 46% of consumers use digital wallets, growing at a 29% CAGR as mobile-first payments expand.
  
• BNPL is small but scaling fast. Buy now, pay later holds under 2% share today but grows 35–40% annually, especially in Colombia and Mexico.
  
• Cash on delivery persists in low-trust markets. COD still represents 12–35% of orders in countries like Mexico and Peru, where trust in online payments remains uneven.

Below is a breakdown of the most popular payment methods in LATAM, including cards, wallets, BNPL, and cash on delivery.

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E-commerce activity gives fintechs a practical view of how a borrower spends, pays, and behaves online.

Regular shopping, stable delivery addresses, and consistent payment methods help confirm identity and financial habits.

When applicants have no online shopping history or rely only on cash-on-delivery or very new accounts, it becomes harder to assess reliability or repayment stability.

Lenders who analyze these trails can better differentiate dependable consumers from riskier or less established profiles.

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Paid subscriptions in LATAM: streaming, cloud & recurring payments

LATAM’s subscription economy has surged in recent years. Streaming, music, cloud storage, and gaming services become a core part of everyday digital life across the region.

Streaming and digital media

• Netflix maintains regional leadership. The platform has 49 million subscribers and 37% household penetration, followed by Disney+ with 32 million and the fastest growth in LATAM at +260% from 2021–2026.
  
• Spotify sees record premium growth. The service added 9.7 million premium users in the past year. More than any other region worldwide.
  
• Prime Video thrives in major markets. Amazon Prime Video reaches roughly 20–25 million users, with its strongest adoption in Mexico and Brazil due to bundled subscriptions.
  
• Local streaming platforms hold strong positions. Brazil’s Globoplay now exceeds 25 million subscribers, while ViX attracts more than 10 million users across Spanish-speaking markets.
  
• Younger audiences drive subscription uptake. Around 70–80% of users under 30 pay for streaming, while older groups sit closer to 40–50%, often accessing services through shared family plans.

Here’s an overview of subscription levels for the most widely used global streaming services in LATAM.

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Now, let’s look at the regional platforms that shape local streaming habits amongst the population:

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Other paid services

• Digital subscriptions extend beyond entertainment. Non-entertainment digital services total $10–15B across LATAM, with SaaS alone reaching $5–7B in 2025 at a 24% CAGR.
  
• Cloud storage adoption is widespread. Google Drive dominates with 94% personal-use penetration, and more than 50 million LATAM users pay for additional storage, growing 15% annually.
  
• Software subscriptions keep expanding. Microsoft 365 reaches roughly 20 million users in the region, while Adobe Creative Cloud holds around 5 million subscribers.
  
• Gaming subscriptions gain momentum. Xbox Game Pass adoption rises alongside 22% console sales growth, representing about 38% of the region’s console gaming market.
  
• Payment friction slows subscription growth. Gift cards and prepaid tools remain common in markets with limited card penetration, creating added steps for users and higher churn risk.

Subscription activity helps lenders see how consistently a borrower manages recurring payments.

Long-standing accounts on streaming, music, or cloud services show stable digital habits and predictable spending patterns.

When applicants have no paid subscriptions or rely only on prepaid methods, it becomes harder to gauge financial discipline or ongoing payment reliability.

Reviewing these signals helps fintechs identify borrowers with steady digital behavior versus those with more irregular or fragile patterns.

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Web footprints in LATAM: search, local sites & regional consistency

Understanding how users search, browse, and consume local websites reveals the digital habits that underpin identity and fraud-risk patterns.

Most used web resources

• Google dominates regional search. The platform controls 95–98% of all search activity in LATAM, with Bing at 2–4% and all other engines below 2%.
  
• Local and global news brands both thrive. Brazil’s G1 surpasses 200 million monthly visits, while Infobae attracts more than 100 million users across Spanish-speaking markets.
  
• Education holds a major traffic share. Edtech spending has reached $4.2 billion, on track to grow to $22.8 billion by 2033.
  
• Social platforms act as secondary search hubs. Facebook drives around 5% of search queries and accounts for more than 60% of news discovery.
  
• Brazil and Mexico drive most web activity. Together, they generate over 60% of LATAM’s regional web traffic due to their population size and strong connectivity.

Below is a breakdown of the most widely used search engines across LATAM.

Local high-traffic websites

• Mercado Libre tops regional traffic. The platform sees 447 million monthly visits, making it one of LATAM’s most visited non-social sites.
  
• Globo/G1 reflects strong local media habits. Brazil’s leading news network logs more than 200 million monthly visits, highlighting the power of national outlets.
  
• Amazon holds a significant share in key markets. Regional Amazon sites attract 100–150 million monthly visits, driven mainly by Brazil and Mexico.
  
• Local marketplaces retain meaningful traction. Platforms like Linio and Dafiti receive 50–80 million visits across Mexico, Chile, and niche shopper segments.
  
• Regional news hubs remain highly influential. Infobae surpasses 200 million visits, reinforcing the strength of local and Spanish-language media despite global competition.

Below is an overview of the leading browsers and OS combinations used across the region:

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Web traffic behaviors

• Mobile drives most online time. LATAM users spend 7–8 hours online per day, with mobile accounting for more than 80% of sessions. Younger users (18–29) spend over 4 hours daily on mobile alone.
  
• Chrome dominates browser share. Chrome holds roughly 82% of the market, while Safari sits at 5–6%, reflecting Android’s regional dominance.
  
• Engagement metrics show steady depth. Typical sessions last 2–3 minutes with 3–4 pages per visit and a 40–50% bounce rate, while e-commerce performs better with bounce rates near 30%.
  
• Urban users follow more complex journeys. City-based users spend twice as much time online as rural users and complete multi-touchpoint journeys 60%+ of the time, compared to about 30% in rural areas.
  
• Domain registrations continue to surge. More than 10 million domains are registered annually, with .br and .mx accounting for about 20% of new registrations as business digitalization accelerates.

Browsing and search behavior helps lenders verify whether a borrower’s digital habits match their claimed location and lifestyle

Applicants who regularly visit locally popular sites, like Mercado Libre in Mexico, Globo in Brazil, or regional news portals, tend to show consistent, organic behavior.

When this pattern is missing, or when an applicant avoids well-known national platforms entirely, it can suggest limited local presence or attempts to mask identity.

Reviewing these signals helps credit providers detect mismatched locations, synthetic profiles, and applicants who may not be who they claim to be.

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Gambling & betting in LATAM: behavioral risk in context

The rise of online betting in LATAM reveals behavioral trends that intersect directly with fraud exposure, financial stress, and repayment risk.

Regional overview

• Online gambling continues rapid growth. LATAM’s online gambling GGR reached $2.5 billion in 2024, growing 17% year over year, with sports betting holding more than 65% of the market.
  
• Sports betting participation expands quickly. Active bettors increased from 3.6 million in 2019 to 8.3 million in 2024, reflecting strong regional adoption.
  
• Mobile dominates deposit behavior. The region now counts over 100 million active betting users, with more than 60% of deposits occurring through mobile apps.
  
• Top markets drive most activity. Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia generate more than 60% of all online gambling traffic, supported by regulatory liberalization and aggressive marketing.
  
• User demographics skew young and male. More than 70% of users are male, and those aged 18–34 show the highest engagement, averaging 4+ sessions per week and ARPU of $18–20 per month.

Let’s also look at the platforms that dominate online betting activity throughout the region:

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Gambling risk considerations

• Betting fraud rises at record pace. Fraud in online betting increased more than 30% in 2024, the highest jump globally. Operators face fast-evolving tactics and uneven regulatory landscapes.
  
• Money laundering exploits bonuses and instant rails. Bonus abuse and real-time payment systems like Pix appear in 10–20% of suspicious cases, with unregulated markets showing fraud rates close to 40%.
  
• Gambling behavior impacts credit risk. Lenders already flag heavy gambling as a risk factor, affecting more than 20% of applications where transaction data shows recurring deposits to betting platforms.
  
• Behavioral patterns reveal financial strain. Red flags include spending more than 10% of income on gambling, overdrafts following losses, and high card utilization aligned with betting cycles.
  
• Problem gambling has measurable spillover effects. About 20% of bettors show harmful patterns, and one in four with gambling-related debt misses other bill payments.
  

Gambling activity should be evaluated in context, not treated as an automatic risk flag.

A betting account alongside consistent digital behavior across platforms, active premium subscriptions, and responsible borrowing, indicates a creditworthy applicant.

The real warning signs come from sudden bursts of loan applications across lenders, unexpected credit limit max-outs, or spending patterns that no longer align with income.

By reviewing these signals holistically, neobanks and fintechs can separate normal recreational use from behaviors that indicate financial stress or elevated fraud risk.

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Turning LATAM digital footprints into credit risk scores

Signals of a creditworthy borrower

After reviewing LATAM’s digital landscape, certain patterns consistently point to stronger, more reliable borrowers.

These signals show stability, continuity, and real-world identity – traits that map closely to better repayment behavior in RiskSeal’s practice:

• Established contact history. Long-lived email and phone number, with years of visible history.
• Stable device signals. Consistent device usage and a stable, low-variance IP footprint.
• Verified purchase behavior. Regular e-commerce activity with verified accounts and repeat purchases.
• Recurring payment habits. Active paid subscriptions that renew month after month.
• Messaging platform tenure. Long-term presence on messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram.
• Avatar consistency. Matching avatars across platforms (same face, same identity).
• Cross-platform identity match. Consistent name variations across email, social accounts, and app profiles.

Together, these signals reflect authenticity, predictability, and financial stability — exactly what risk teams want to see when approving new borrowers in emerging digital markets.

Signals that depend on context and combination

Not every signal is good or bad on its own.

Some behaviors depend on timing, frequency, country norms, income level, or how they combine with other data points.

Context changes the meaning.

• VPN usage. Common across LATAM; concerning only when paired with anomalies.
• Gambling or betting activity. Risk depends on spend, recency, and intensity.
• Prepaid vs. postpaid plans. Neutral unless coupled with high churn or SIM-swaps.
• Recent number portability. Normal behavior unless frequent or very recent.
• Low or no social media presence. Neutral unless paired with high anonymity elsewhere.
• Device or account resets. Could be routine maintenance or signal-hiding attempts.
  

These require a “context + combination” approach. No single indicator tells the full story.

Signals that indicate high fraud or default risk

Some digital footprints almost always correlate with higher fraud, identity volatility, or early-default behavior.

These patterns show anonymity, manipulation, or synthetic construction.

Here are the things lenders need to flag applicants instantly:

• Disposable contact details. Newly created or disposable emails and phone numbers.
• High‑risk virtual numbers. Virtual or VoIP numbers linked to high-risk patterns.
• Tampered or unstable devices. Emulated, rooted, or recently factory-reset devices.
• Anonymized or shifting IPs. IPs tied to TOR, anonymizers, or rapid geolocation jumps.
• Identity mismatches. Mismatched names, locations, or identities across platforms.
• Unstable digital footprint. Multiple inconsistencies with no stable digital assets.

These signals point to identity obfuscation rather than genuine behavior. And they raise credit and fraud risk significantly.

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Bringing it all together for LATAM underwriting

This report set out to map LATAM’s digital landscape and pinpoint which footprints truly move the needle on credit risk.

The core pattern is clear: stable, long-lived digital behaviors align with reliable borrowers.

Anonymity, volatility, and data manipulation cluster around fraud and early default.

For fintechs, our recommendation is simple:

• Prioritize signals of stability and consistency.
  
• Read contextual indicators in combination, not in isolation.
  
• Use high-risk footprints as early warnings, not automatic declines.
  
• Blend digital data with traditional underwriting for the best lift.
  

As smartphones, e-commerce, and digital identity rails deepen, the lenders who use these signals responsibly will approve more good borrowers, block more fraud, and expand inclusion.

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Sources used in this report

While this report draws on trusted public data, many insights come from RiskSeal’s hands-on work with lenders across LATAM.

Some facts and interpretations reflect patterns we see in real underwriting, fraud, and digital-footprint analysis – insights that aren’t published elsewhere.

If you’re curious about any statement or want to explore the data behind it, we’re always open to questions and deeper discussion on the state of digital footprints in LATAM.

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Quartr: Mercado Libre – The Digital Backbone of Latin America – https://quartr.com/insights/edge/mercado-libre-the-digital-backbone-of-latin-america

HKTDC Research: E-Commerce Trends in Latin America – https://research.hktdc.com/en/article/MTkwNzk4MDYyMQ

Thunes: Digital Payments in Brazil – https://www.thunes.com/insights/learn/digital-payments-in-brazil/

Unlimit: Digital Wallets in Latin America – https://www.unlimit.com/blog/payments/digital-wallets-in-latin-america-driving-consumer-confidence/

Ampere Analysis: Netflix Subscriber Trends by Region – https://www.ampereanalysis.com/insight/asia-pacific-surpasses-latin-america-to-become-netflixs-third-largest-subscriber-base

EBANX: Latin America’s SaaS Sector to Double by 2027 – https://business.ebanx.com/en/press-room/press-releases/latin-americas-saas-sector-is-accelerating-toward-doubling-by-2027-reveals-ebanx

SQ Magazine: Xbox Statistics – https://sqmagazine.co.uk/xbox-statistics/

Delante: SEO in Latin America – https://delante.co/seo-in-latin-america/

Marketing4eCommerce: What Is Mercado Libre? – https://marketing4ecommerce.net/en/what-is-mercado-libre-history-and-evolution-of-a-leader-in-latin-american-ecommerce/

SEMrush: Infobae Traffic Overview – https://www.semrush.com/website/infobae.com/overview

StatCounter: Browser Market Share in South America (2022) – https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/all/south-america/2022

SiGMA: Latin America’s Online Gambling by the Numbers – https://sigma.world/news/latin-americas-online-gambling-by-the-numbers/

UpGaming: Sports Betting in Latin America (2019–2024) – https://upgaming.com/sports-betting-in-latin-america-from-2019-to-2024/

Sumsub: Fraud in LATAM Betting Sector Rose 30% in 2024 – https://www.scribd.com/document/897662871/Pesquisa-da-Sumsub-revela-crescimento-de-mais-de-30-em-fraudes-no-setor-de-bets-na-America-Latina#from_embed

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