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The news: Paysafe received a payment license from the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) for the country鈥檚 regulated online sports betting and gambling market, per a press release. The country鈥檚 regulated online gambling market opened on January 1. With the license, Paysafe will be able to partner with gambling operators and expand its presence across other industries in the country.

As Latin America鈥檚 digital revolution marches on, advertisers and retailers must keep pace with how and where consumers are spending their time鈥攁nd money鈥攊f they wish to maintain a competitive edge in today鈥檚 rapidly evolving business environment.

Mastercard, for example, partners with Citi to provide cardholders with detailed purchase information directly to their bank app and participates in open banking ecommerce payments in Europe. It also continues to develop new data-driven services and solutions powered by generative AI (genAI). Issuers face threats amid a cloud-based opportunity.

Our first-ever worldwide forecast for retail media ad spending shows enduring momentum and lots of good news for Amazon and other ecommerce platforms around the world.

TikTok, meanwhile, accelerated plans to launch TikTok Shop in Mexico and Brazil. But while their US prospects have dimmed, China鈥檚 ecommerce players will continue to significantly outpace the 5% growth rate for overall US ecommerce in 2025. We forecast that Temu鈥檚 US sales will increase by 13.5%, while Shein鈥檚 will rise by 10.0%.

In Brazil, the banks are vying for business in the lucrative credit card and merchant payment processing markets. Mercado Pago is rapidly expanding its market share again by leveraging ecommerce data for innovative credit models. But Nubank maintains a lead in consumer credit through its transaction data-driven strategies and established customer base.

Mercado Libre is beating Amazon at its own game in Latin America: The former is expected to represent more than half of all retail media ad spending in the region, while the latter continues to lose share to local players in Brazil and Mexico.

The Amazon of Latin America has a $3.6 billion plan: Mercado Libre will invest 19 billion reais in Brazil, in part to fund its fintech arm鈥攚hich poses an enormous threat to the region鈥檚 banks.

In our first edition of the Global Digital Index, created in partnership with the RLC Global Forum, we explore retail and ecommerce in the Gulf States of the Middle East.

As Chinese ecommerce players make further inroads in Latin America, local companies are finding new ways to innovate and keep pace with consumers鈥� fast-evolving shopping habits. Several have already done so, but others will need to keep up. Mercado Libre launched its 鈥淐lips鈥� functionality this past summer to compete directly with TikTok鈥檚 ecommerce ambitions in Latin America.

Strength in Europe and emerging markets like Brazil helped L鈥橭r茅al outperform the broader beauty sector. The headwinds: The US 鈥渨as more challenging than anticipated,鈥� CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said on the company鈥檚 Q1 earnings call, citing a confluence of factors.

Meanwhile, Peacock鈥檚 exclusive week 1 Brazil game broadcast was 116% more effective for companies than average TV ads, while Amazon Prime Video鈥檚 Black Friday matchup stream was 51% more effective than the average Thanksgiving NFL game ad.