With the recent opening of an office in Mexico City, Stripe, the mobile payments startup, is now fully available in Mexico. It is the first country they’ve launched in Latin America.
Although Mexico is the second-largest economy in Latin America, the online commerce represents only 2% of its GDP. However, this is rapidly changing, as retail e-commerce is forecasted to grow by 35% in 2019.
In order to accelerate this growth, the launch will enable Mexican entrepreneurs and businesses to start accepting payments from around the world in a matter of minutes. They can also begin accessing Stripe’s full suite of products, including Connect, Radar, Billing, and Sigma.
Stripe has been working closely with innovative companies in Mexico such as Homely, Cornershop, mienvio, Rappi, and Unitips, in order to tailor Stripe’s products for the Mexican market.
The Payment Intents API now supports up to 18 installments on major credit card networks. It can also inform you in real-time if this function is available your customer’s credit card.
Stripe now accepts payments via OXXO, which allows customers to pay cash for online purchases at convenience stores throughout the country.
Another benefit is that transactions can be processed in over 135 currencies, facilitating the sale and export to customers around the world.
John Collison, co-founder and president of Stripe, announced in a press release:
“For internet businesses, accepting payments and moving money is still too complicated, cumbersome and slow. At Stripe, our goal is to grow the internet economy by providing the best platform for ambitious businesses to start and scale online.”
Stripe, which competes with Square and Adyen, assists businesses of all sizes to facilitate payments over the Internet via its software. Launched in 2010, this B2B firm started by helping e-commerce companies incorporate payments into their apps and websites.
This launch followed at the heels of a $250 million fundraising round in September. This brought the Silicon-Valley-based company’s value to $35 billion.
The fast-growing fintech company was supporting Facebook’s digital currency Libra. This would provide a borderless and quick payment experience to the users. However, Stripe backed out of the Libra Association, right before their first meeting. The company, like many of its larger peers including Visa and MasterCard, was worried about all the regulatory concerns related to cryptocurrency. In fact, several Democratic lawmakers had also written to these companies asking them to rethink their involvement with the project.
In Conclusion
Stripe is one of the most prominent fintech companies in the world. With this launch in Mexico City, it hopes to leverage this office to begin growth and solidify its presence in Latin America.
Stripe has recruited local Mexican talent to help build more “localized” products. It wants to take full advantage of all the fast-growing opportunities for eCommerce payments as well as mobile payments. Once established, Stripe will begin to set its eyes towards the broader Latin American region.