Money20/20 USA 2026: Cobre Joins the “Build vs Buy” Panel in Las Vegas
Money20/20 USA 2026 runs October 18–21 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. On Monday, October 19, Natalia Vasquez, Country Manager at Cobre, joins the panel Build vs Buy? The gameplan for regional expansion on the Startup Stage.
This guide places the session within the Money20/20 Las Vegas agenda and frames the question the panel puts on the table: when expanding payments into new countries, what to build and what to connect.
Money20/20 Las Vegas agenda: when and where is Cobre’s panel
Cobre’s panel takes place on Monday, October 19, 2026, from 1:15 PM to 1:40 PM, on the Startup Stage at Money20/20 USA. All times are Las Vegas time (PT).
The full schedule is available on the official Money20/20 USA agenda.
Money20/20 2026 speakers on the Build vs Buy panel
Four perspectives share the stage:
- Natalia Vasquez, Country Manager, Cobre
- Jacob Levin, Country Manager Mexico, Pomelo
- Alejandro Maza, Chief Product & AI Officer, Kavak
- Mauricio Schwartzmann, Chief Financial Services Officer, Yuno
The session’s premise is that companies scaling into new markets deliberately delegate part of their payments infrastructure and rely on rails that already exist.
What does build vs buy mean in regional payments expansion?
Build vs buy is the decision between developing a capability in-house or integrating it from existing infrastructure. In payments, the decision repeats in every country, because each market runs on its own payment rails, participants and rules. A shared payments infrastructure changes how often a company has to make that decision.
An example with two markets:
- Colombia. Payouts run on Bre-B, Fast Pay or ACH. Collections can come in through Request to Pay (Bancolombia, Nequi, PSE) or Checkout.
- Mexico. Payouts run on SPEI, also explained for businesses. Collections arrive in virtual CLABE accounts, which simplify reconciliation.
A company that opens both countries without shared infrastructure ends up with two integrations, two reconciliation schemes and two bank maps. Each new country adds the same work again.
How to decide what to build and what to connect
Four questions structure the decision. They are an editorial framework, not a rule.
For the ongoing-operations row, see how bank reconciliation works in treasury.
Cross-border payments at Money20/20: moving from one currency to several
Expanding payments between the United States and Latin America rarely involves a single currency. Cobre’s Cross-Border Payments operates currency pairs such as USD/COP, USD/MXN and USD/PEN, with an upfront quote that shows the rate, spread and fees before the payment is executed.
Operations run 24/7. Outside foreign exchange market hours, the spread can adjust. To lock a rate before funding, see Rate Locke, the broader operational picture, the guide to foreign currency transactions.
Changing currency and paying locally are two steps that live in the same infrastructure: Cross-Border Payments for the quote, and Local Payments for the payment to the beneficiary’s bank.
Where Cobre fits in that decision
Cobre is an enterprise payments infrastructure for Latin America. A company connects once, through API or Portal, and operates Local Payments in Colombia and Mexico, cross-border payments and reconciliation.
The operation holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS v4.0.1 certifications.
Frequently asked questions about Money20/20 USA 2026
When is Money20/20 USA 2026?
Money20/20 USA 2026 runs October 18–21 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The event brings together banks, payments companies, technology providers, retail and startups. The program is organized by pillars and stages, and every session has a day, time and location in the official agenda.
When and where does Cobre speak at Money20/20 Las Vegas?
Natalia Vasquez, Country Manager at Cobre, speaks on Monday, October 19, 2026, from 1:15 PM to 1:40 PM, on the Startup Stage. The session is the panel Build vs Buy? The gameplan for regional expansion and lasts 25 minutes.
Who are the speakers on the Build vs Buy panel?
Natalia Vasquez (Cobre), Jacob Levin (Pomelo, Country Manager Mexico), Alejandro Maza (Kavak, Chief Product & AI Officer) and Mauricio Schwartzmann (Yuno, Chief Financial Services Officer). Full profiles and the rest of the speakers are in the speakers section of the official site.
Where can I find the full Money20/20 USA 2026 agenda?
In the Agenda section of us.money2020.com, where sessions can be filtered by day, stage, pillar and topic. Cobre’s panel appears under the pillar Partnerships as the Engine to Scale and the topics Payment Rails & Infrastructure and Embedded Finance.
The panel’s question does not end in Las Vegas. Every company that opens a new country answers it again, with different rails and different currencies. Deciding what to build and what to connect before expanding avoids rebuilding integrations later.
Anyone attending Money20/20 USA 2026 who wants to discuss operations in Colombia or Mexico can book a meeting with the Cobre team. Those not attending can explore Cross-Border Payments and Local Payments.
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