Google said Thursday (June 9) it would invest $1.2 billion in Latin America to promote the region’s digital transformation and economic development.
As Bloomberg News reported, the funding will go to support three large projects in the region: undersea cable, hiring engineers and digital wallets.
In a blog post, Google committed to launching an undersea cable — dubbed Firmina after Brazilian abolitionist Maria Firmina dos Reis — in 2023 to connect North America and South America across the Atlantic Ocean. The company said this will a better internet in the region, with the cable — the longest in the world — running from the U.S. to Argentina, with stops in Brazil and Uruguay.
In addition, Google said it will increase its team of engineers in Brazil with an emphasis on security and privacy. The company opened its Engineering Center for Latin America in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2005.
Finally, Google will launch Google Wallet — a digital wallet designed to compete with Apple Pay — in Brazil and Chile in the coming months. The company said it also plans to expand the payments feature on Android smartphones to other countries.
In addition, $300 million of the funding will go toward Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, which backs sustainability NGOs and economic opportunities for women, Bloomberg said.
Learn more: Kushki CEO: Latin America’s Digital Payments Explosion Demands New Infrastructure
The investment is coming at a time when Latin America is undergoing a digital transformation, as PYMNTS noted this week in our interview with Kushki CEO Aron Schwarzkopf.
Digital transaction values in the region exceed $100 billion and will be worth as much as $175 billion by 2025 alone.
Latin America is dealing with double-digital inflation, which might suggest that spending — in terms of transaction volume — would be reduced, but that’s not the case, Schwarzkopf said.
“Regardless of how inflation moves, the demand for digital payments is growing at a record pace because it was so behind,” he told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.
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