Mexico’s FEMSA to Buy B2B FinTech NetPay

Mexican retail, logistics and distribution firm Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA) has signed an agreement to acquire merchant aggregator NetPay as part of its effort to build a portfolio of financial and digital services that is diverse and omnichannel.

NetPay will contribute to the B2B segment of this portfolio by continuing to offer payment services and solutions to independent entrepreneurs, micro businesses and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Mexico, FEMSA said Monday (Nov. 7) in a press release.

“With NetPay, Digital@FEMSA advances in its objective of transforming the relationship between the people of Mexico and their money; for example, how they manage their income, send money to friends, family or suppliers, receive payments from customers, and generally benefit from reliable and efficient transactions,” Digital@FEMSA CEO Jose Antonio Fernández Garza Lagüera said in the release.

Subject to closing conditions and government approvals, the transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2023. FEMSA acquired a minority equity stake in NetPay in 2019 and now aims to own 100%.

“For over 130 years, FEMSA has supported small businesses to earn more, whether expanding their product assortment with our beverage portfolio, or offering convenient access to financial services through our proximity stores,” Lagüera said in the release. “Today, we take a step forward to help these small business owners broaden their payment solutions, allowing them in turn to attract and retain more customers.”

PYMNTS research has found that shoppers in Mexico use their smartphones throughout their in-store and online retail journeys, including to pay.

In fact, 46% of consumers in Mexico use their smartphone at some point during purchase, according to the “2022 Global Digital Shopping Playbook: Mexico Edition,” a PYMNTS and Cybersource collaboration.