Kushki disrupts local monopolies with Visa and Mastercard memberships, gaining regulatory approval for ecosystem expansion.
The first next-generation merchant acquirer in the region is Kushki, a unicorn payments technology business that connects Latin America through payments. This comes after main membership with Visa and Mastercard in Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Colombia.
Because of its standardised, cutting-edge proprietary processing infrastructure, Kushki’s collaboration with Visa and Mastercard makes it one of the biggest acquirers in Latin America in terms of coverage.
Prior to this progress, merchants and payment companies operating in Latin America were dependent on one or more local acquirer processors in each country. These processors typically functioned as monopolies, having been established in the 1990s, and had little incentive to innovate their legacy infrastructure or create wider access to the ecosystem.
This has led regulators in the area to collaborate with businesses such as Kushki in order to expand the ecosystem and open up new markets. The company has been granted approval by local regulators in the mentioned nations for seven years after its creation, making it the first non-bank entity to be authorised to function as a merchant acquirer.
Kushki provides straight lines to the main payment networks. This implies that without the need for extra middlemen or outside banking institutions, retailers and other companies looking to be a part of the regional payment ecosystem will be able to connect to and interact with the leading payment networks and systems in Latin America directly.
Benefits of the new model include speedier transactions, improved reliability and traceability in transaction processing, and more individualised service for both merchants and customers making payments in physical and online businesses. Through continuous innovation, Kushki is able to offer a cutting-edge technological platform that fully comprehends the local payment laws needed for new entrants to the market to be successful.
Opening up payment innovation to more people
“This initiative began back in 2017, and the level of resources and dedication put into this enormous regulatory and infrastructure project is unprecedented in the Latin American region. Aron Schwarzkopf, co-founder and CEO of Kushki, explained the significance of the news for the company and the area, saying, “We invite businesses to use it widely either directly or build a payment company on top of us.”
“We will be able to give retailers and payment service providers more control over their transactions as the first regional acquirer and make payment innovation more accessible.”
This Kushki endeavour comes after the company decided to establish Kushki Mundial as a new business division last year. This was done in order to link with regional alternative payment organisations and platforms and provide clients from around the world with access to Kushki’s payment technologies in the Latin American region from any location.
Other noteworthy achievements include the August 2022 acquisition of the Mexican financial services startup Billpocket. By making the change, it intended to bring together Billpocket’s experience and knowledge in card present payments with its online expertise and geographic placement.
