Why Latin America's Payment Systems Are a Hidden Opportunity

Jessica Albright · 2026-09-14

Latin America's payments landscape is a paradox. Some of the world's most advanced payment systems are emerging in a region where moving money across borders can still be remarkably complicated. From Brazil's Pix to Argentina's Transferencias 3.0 and Mexico's CoDi, consumers are embracing faster, digital payment methods. Yet for merchants, the region remains a patchwork of national payment rails, currencies, regulations, and providers. That complexity is becoming harder to ignore. Latin America's remittance market handles more than $160 billion a year, while the region's broader economy is poised for significant growth. For businesses looking to capture that opportunity, the challenge is no longer simply entering the market—it's finding a way to navigate all of its markets at once. ### The Payment Mix: Cards, Digital Wallets, and Stubborn Cash Credit cards are still the most popular payment method in Latin America, with $269 billion (U.S.) in transactions recorded in 2024, according to The Next Payment Infrastructure in LATAM, a research paper from PhotonPay. But account-based transfers, or A2A payments, are gaining acceptance. Brazil's Pix payment system has been a driving force and an exemplar for other nations in this area. Digital wallets accounted for $68 billion, while cash remains stubbornly popular. Although it's not growing as quickly as the other payment methods, cash still accounted for $36 billion in transaction value. That mix of payment methods reflects a broader reality—there's no single payments model across Latin America. Each country has developed its own combination of rails, providers and consumer preferences, creating a market that is both technologically advanced and difficult to approach as a whole. ### A Region of Distinct Markets The differences are particularly apparent in the development of domestic payment rails. Rather than relying on a single regional system, countries across Latin America have built their own sophisticated infrastructure. After just five years in operation, Pix has become a model for other A2A payment systems and is now processing more than 7 billion transactions per month. Other countries are developing their own fast-growing alternatives, including Argentina with Transferencias 3.0 and Mexico with CoDi. According to data from J.P. Morgan, 95% of payments in Mexico now reach their recipients in less than 10 minutes. "From a payments perspective, it's important to recognize the region as a group of adjacent but distinctly different countries," said Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. "For example, the Pix account-to-account payment platform has become hugely popular with Brazilian consumers, but being operated by the Central Bank of Brazil, it's not available in other countries outside of Brazil. Most of the larger countries in Latin America have their own domestic payments schemes or digital wallets that are popular with consumers but operate separately from card payment rails." ### Moving Money Across Borders Latin America once relied on central bank clearing arrangements—a slow, expensive, and now thoroughly outdated model. That was followed by local currency settlement, which streamlined transactions for buyers and sellers alike. Now, the movement is toward faster payment rails and digital infrastructure that allows cross-border transactions to settle in minutes. The infrastructure is improving, but the regulatory landscape remains complicated. While many local regulators are working to facilitate easier trade, businesses still face a maze of rules that vary from country to country. ### The Economic Upside The region's economic outlook makes that challenge even more consequential. In a bullish scenario, Morgan Stanley predicts that the region's capital markets could almost triple in size over the coming decade, from $2.4 trillion in 2024 to $6.3 trillion by 2035. That potential is enticing for businesses around the world, but capturing it requires the ability to work across multiple payment rails, currencies, and regulatory schemes. So what's the takeaway? If you're looking to expand into Latin America, don't treat it as one market. Understand the local payment preferences, build relationships with local providers, and be prepared to adapt. The opportunity is huge, but it's not one-size-fits-all.