German firm SumUp, a competitor in Europe’s increasingly crowded mobile point-of-sale market, is looking for fresh pastures.

The firm is expanding into South America thanks to new backing from BBVA Ventures, the venture arm of the Spanish bank.

The size of the investment has not been revealed but BBVA is joining SumUp’s Series B round announced in May, which also includes Groupon and Amex. The round was described at the time as being “double digit million euros” in size.

Jan Deepen (pictured), SumUp’s co-founder, said: “International expansion is a key component of our growth story. Having BBVA as a strong partner at our side as we expand to regions beyond Europe – in particular South America – is invaluable.”

A number of other European hopefuls are also lining up launches in South America, including iZettle, Payleven and mPowa. The latter two have either launched, or expressed an interest, in the Brazilian market.

The region also has indigenous contenders, such as Clip in Mexico.

All see a potential market of small businesses across the region who currently deal in cash and not credit or debit cards. They hope they will adopt services that transform smartphones and tablets into point-of-sale terminals.

SumUp has not outlined which markets it will target initially but aims for a launch date before the end of 2013.

BBVA’s funds will also go towards SumUp’s push in existing markets Spain and Portugal.