Mastercard Acquires LATAM Real-Time Payments Platform

Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday (Nov. 24) announced its acquisition of Start Path program alum Arcus FI to assist with bill pay solution delivery and other real-time payment applications across Latin America.

Arcus provides bill pay and cash-in, cash-out services for billers, retailers, FinTechs and financial institutions in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America. The Arcus Pay Network has direct connection with many of the largest billers in Mexico and access to the country’s largest retailers.

“The past year has shown how critical digital solutions are for people and businesses across the region,” said Laura Cruz, division president for Mexico and Central America at Mastercard. “With the addition of the Arcus team, we will enhance existing payment experiences and create new opportunities to address every day needs by connecting more people to the digital economy.”

Arcus’ platform can now enable payment processing, settlement and reconciliation through Mexico’s real-time Interbank Electronic Payment System (Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios).

“Edrizio de la Cruz and I began this company to help immigrants like us have a proper way to track our finances and send money home,” said Iñigo Rumayor, co-founder at Arcus. “For nearly a decade, we have grown from those aspirations to help pave the way toward greater financial inclusion in Latin America.

“We’ve tapped into some of the region’s brightest minds, and built a world-class team alongside Marc Sacal, who has helped us expand beyond those initial cross-border payments to give people a greater control of their financial lives,” he said. “Now, becoming part of the Mastercard family and a direct participant in the SPEI network expands what we can deliver to our customers.”

Related: Deep Dive: Examining Latin America’s Payments Ecosystem and the PSP Opportunity

A recent study predicted 84 million Latin American consumers will use eCommerce shopping by the first quarter of 2022 — 70% more than would do so without the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another report showed that 83% of Latin American consumers are open to using cryptocurrencies, QR codes, biometric authentication-based transactions and other cutting-edge payment methods, and 72% have tried a new form of payment as a result of the pandemic.