Grin-Yellow merger, Grow Mobility incorporates payments app Flinto •

Contxto – Electric scooter startup Grow Mobility, the result of Grin and Yellow merging, has announced yet another acquisition. Rather than joining forces with an additional micro-mobility company, it intends to incorporate payments app Flinto into its business model.

Similar to how Rappi launched its own payment processor and debit card, it appears as though another startup is entering the fintech realm.

Grin & Yellow & Flinto

With Flinto’s financial expertise, Grow Mobility is on track to implementing a digital wallet into its platform. Previously, Grow Mobility went by Grin before the Mexico City-based micromobility startup merged with Yellow.

Since its 2017 founding, Flinto has been a valuable tool for both the banked and unbanked in Mexico. Its technology allows users to deposit funds into their virtual bank accounts at various shops and restaurants, according to reports. Other features include peer-to-peer payments, bill payments, and text messaging.

Stated on the website, Flinto sees “a tremendous opportunity to leverage the powerful combination of payments and transportation” with the deal.

Related article: Grow Mobility scraps Yellow app, combines rentals with Grin and Rappi platforms

Grow’s Growth

Grow Mobility customers will be able to make Flinto payments on the Grow app, according to reports. Plans to gradually phase out Flinto are also in the works. Ultimately, the decision to consolidate Flinto into Grow Mobility was to benefit consumers.

“It started to make a lot of sense to bring Flinto as part of the team to develop the wallet because, for Latin America, the wallet is not an add-on,” said Jonathan Lewy, co-founder of Grin.

“It’s a need if you want to tap into a big market of underbanked or non-banked. The only way to bring them on the platform is through a wallet. For us, the wallet is something that we see as the future of the company,” he added.

There are more than 135,000 micromobility units in six countries ever since Grin and Yellow formed Grow Mobility. With Flinto clients expectedly coming on-board, the company wants to double its Latin American scooter fleet in the upcoming months.

Before becoming Grow Mobility, Grin merged with Brazilian micromobility startup, Ride, and even acquired the Uruguayan firm, Mono, to expand coverage in Latin America.