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The Hidden Payments Company Behind Amazon, Google & Uber

Interviews with Leaders in Fintech & Web3

Chapters
0:00
Trailer
1:12
Introduction
2:05
Growing up in a Cuban immigrant household in the 1970s
3:55
Harvard, the 1991 recession and 80 job applications
5:24
Joining Citigroup
7:14
Joining Matercard
11:08
What managing 700 volunteers taught him about management
13:40
Advice for graduates
16:31
What dLocal actually does
18:09
Money in vs money out
19:14
Why payment habits are locked in before you turn 25
21:04
What comes after cards, QR and P2P
24:07
Where stablecoins fit, and where they don't
24:47
Managing regulators across 40+ markets
25:59
Building on stablecoin rails vs partnering
27:28
$1B in revenue, $41B in volume: what drove it
29:12
Beyond the mega-merchants: the other 800 customers
30:05
Decoding Emerging markets
33:50
Hiring a team in a country you've never operated in
35:44
How dLocal is actually using AI
37:01
Agentic commerce with Google
38:07
The biggest AI gain so far
39:26
Why AI is a levelling tool for young people
41:00
Entry-level jobs in AI age
43:27
Opportunities in Fintech
45:24
Advice to his 20-year-old self
47:40
Why optimising beats inventing
47:40
Why optimising beats inventing
48:38
Final thoughts
Interviews with Leaders in Fintech & Web3
The Hidden Payments Company Behind Amazon, Google & Uber
Aug 03, 2026 Season 2 Episode 32
Work in Fintech

Carlos Menendez was born in Puerto Rico, the oldest of five children of Cuban immigrants who left the island with nothing. The family settled in Miami in the 1970s, where money was tight and both parents worked. What his parents drilled into him was simple: the one thing nobody can take from you is what's in your head. Excellence wasn't a lofty ambition in that household, it was the condition for eating. 

He spent his childhood summers in the local library, partly because it was the only place with air conditioning. He graduated from Harvard into the 1991 recession and sent out roughly 80 applications before landing his first job at Procter & Gamble. 

Fourteen years at Citigroup and fourteen at Mastercard followed, running cards across 18 countries and launching contactless travel with Transport for London. Two years ago he left one of the most senior seats in global payments to become COO of dLocal, a Uruguayan fintech now past $1B in revenue.

In this episode Carlos unpacks:

• The future of global payments
• How dLocal operates across emerging markets
• AI, fraud detection & agentic commerce
• Building trust in regulated industries
• Career advice for young professionals
• Leadership lessons from 30+ years in fintech
• Why emerging markets are shaping the future of commerce

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