{
  "id": 7080340,
  "title": "Mercado Pago Keeps Issuing Credit Cards Even as Brazil Worries About Debt",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/mercado-pago-keeps-issuing-credit-cards-even-as-brazil-worries-about",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-12T00:01:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Finance",
    "slug": "yahoo-finance",
    "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/mercado-pago-keeps-issuing-credit-000145444.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Brazil's central bank has expressed concerns over rising household debt, prompting Mercado Pago to maintain its credit card expansion despite the warnings. Mercado Pago, the fintech division of MercadoLibre, continues to issue credit cards even as the central bank worries about the impact on Brazilian consumers. The company's Vice President, Ignacio Estivariz, said the firm's underwriting models remain strong and its loan portfolio remains healthy. Mercado Pago issued 2.6 million credit cards in the second quarter, more than doubling the 1.6 million cards it issued the previous year. As the fintech arm of MercadoLibre, Mercado Pago now generates about 40% of the company's total revenue. Analysts anticipate the fintech segment to reach $18.1 billion in 2026 revenue, a nearly 44% increase from the previous year. While Mercado Pago has secured diverse, long-term funding and diversified into new markets like Mexico and Argentina, regulatory scrutiny and rising industry-wide delinquencies in Argentina could pose challenges. The company's rapid credit growth, with its credit portfolio reaching $11 billion by the third quarter of 2025, has raised concerns about maintaining asset quality as the portfolio expands.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}