Bold Secures Bilateral Credit from BBVA Spark to Fuel SME Lending in Colombia

Colombian fintech Bold has secured a bilateral credit facility from BBVA Spark, marking a significant milestone for the region’s startup ecosystem. This direct financing from a commercial bank validates Bold’s credit-scoring model based on transactional data, offering a blueprint for how high-growth fintechs can bridge the gap between venture debt and traditional commercial banking.

What was announced

Bold has entered into a bilateral credit agreement with BBVA Spark, the specialized unit of BBVA focused on high-growth companies. The financing is structured to support Bold’s expansion from a payments provider into a comprehensive digital bank for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Northern Latin America. The operation was structured as a bilateral credit and involved significant legal coordination, with Cuatrecasas providing advice for Bold and PPU advising BBVA Spark throughout the negotiation and documentation process.

The deal highlights the maturity of Bold’s business model, which has evolved over six years from a low-cost dataphone provider into a robust financial services ecosystem. Currently, Bold serves more than 700,000 merchants across Colombia and Peru, processing approximately COP $20 trillion annually through card payments and QR codes. This transaction makes Bold one of the few fintechs of Colombian origin to access structured bilateral financing directly with a commercial bank, rather than relying on venture capital or private debt funds.

A core component of this partnership is Bold’s proprietary credit system. Unlike traditional lenders that rely heavily on credit bureau history, Bold evaluates a business's repayment capacity based on its real-time sales behavior and transactional data. This approach is designed to increase financial inclusion for SMEs that have historically been underserved by traditional banking institutions. Beyond the financial operation, this credit validates the solidity of Bold's business and its role in closing the gap in access to the financial world for thousands of businesses in Colombia.

"Bold nació como una empresa de datáfonos, pero nuestra aspiración siempre ha sido convertirnos en el banco digital de las pymes del norte de Latinoamérica. El crédito es el capítulo que estamos escribiendo ahora, y esta financiación de BBVA Spark nos impulsa para cumplir ese objetivo."

José Vélez, CEO y fundador de Bold.

The companies involved

Bold is a Colombian-founded fintech that has rapidly scaled its presence in the Andean region. Led by founder and CEO José Vélez, the company initially gained traction by providing affordable point-of-sale (POS) hardware to small merchants who were previously excluded from the electronic payments market. Since its inception six years ago, it has expanded its product suite to include deposits, credits, and profitability products, positioning itself as a primary financial partner for SMEs.

BBVA Spark operates as the dedicated vertical within the BBVA Group designed to support the innovation economy. It provides tailored financing solutions, such as venture debt and working capital, to tech-driven companies that may not fit the traditional risk profiles of standard commercial banking. In Colombia and Argentina, the unit is led by Country Manager Eduardo González. By providing this bilateral credit, BBVA Spark is integrating a high-growth fintech directly into the commercial banking infrastructure. This type of financing reflects a shift toward accompanying high-impact companies with funding adapted to their specific growth needs, ultimately allowing thousands of small businesses to access new credit alternatives.

What this means

This move signals a shift in how Latin American commercial banks view fintech disruptors. Rather than seeing them solely as competitors, BBVA is positioning itself as the underlying liquidity provider for Bold’s lending book. This creates a symbiotic relationship where the bank gains exposure to SME credit risk—mitigated by Bold’s granular transactional data—without having to build the merchant-facing technology itself. For the wider sector, this deal sets a precedent for bilateral financing in Colombia, suggesting that fintechs with high transaction volumes and clean data can now bypass expensive private credit funds in favor of traditional bank debt. Traditional lenders may now face pressure to match this integration or risk losing the SME lending market.