Latin America · GDP rank #12
MX · MXN @ 0.0575/USD
A two-speed payments economy: SPEI handled more than 7.3 billion interbank transactions in 2025 and is on track to overtake card volume by 2026, while CoDi has been allowed to wind down in favour of DiMo's phone-alias overlay. Remittance inflows from the United States stayed the world's largest by absolute value but fell 4.6% in 2025 — the steepest annual decline in 16 years. The fintech sector regulated under the 2018 Ley Fintech has become the region's most active deposit-competition battleground after Brazil.
Tab 04
The macro backdrop that actually bends payment behaviour. Nominal GDP, real growth, CPI, policy rate, and FX volatility set the backdrop; interchange, MDR, FX regime, and capital-control posture set the industry-specific dynamics.
Nominal GDP
MXN · 2024
Population
people · 2024
Adults with a bank account
% · 2021
CNBV estimate for 2024 is 55% once IFPE e-money accounts are counted.
Smartphone penetration
% of adults · 2024
Interchange caps
Interchange is the per-transaction fee an acquirer pays an issuer — the floor underneath every MDR merchants see. Domestic caps (where they exist) shape the market far more than individual network schedules.
Regulator · Banco de México (CE-ABM bilateral with issuers)
Interchange is set through the Comité de Estudios de Medios de Pago; Banxico has the power to cap but has not done so since 2014. Commercial pressure from Fintech Law entrants has kept rates trending down.
Credit interchange (domestic)
% · 2024 actual
Self-regulated by the Asociación de Bancos de México under Banxico oversight; no statutory cap.
Debit interchange (domestic)
% · 2024 actual
Merchant discount rate
The MDR is the fully-loaded cost of card acceptance to the merchant — interchange, scheme fees, and acquirer margin. Small-merchant pricing is routinely 2-3x the large-merchant average.
2.9-3.7% for small merchants on Clip/Kueski Pay/Billpocket; Mercado Pago lists 3.05-3.50% for small sellers
Avg. credit MDR (large merchant)
% · 2024
Avg. debit MDR
% · 2024
Active regulation
Effective · 2018-03-09
Latin America's first comprehensive fintech statute. Creates two licensed categories — IFPE (e-money institutions, equivalent to EU EMI) and IFC (crowdfunding) — and a sandbox regime. Drives the regulatory perimeter for Mercado Pago, Nu (as Nu Payments S.A.), Klar, Albo, RappiPay.
Source · Cámara de Diputados
Effective · 2018-09-10
Banxico and CNBV implementing rules for e-money institutions: AML/CFT, capital, segregation of customer funds, interoperability with SPEI. 82 IFPE licences granted as of Q1 2026.
Source · CNBV
Effective · 2026 H2 expected
Draft rules for open-finance data access covering aggregate, transactional and payment-initiation categories. Public consultation closed Q1 2025; commercial go-live now expected 18 months after final publication.
Source · CNBV
Effective · 2024-01-01
Mexican banks moved to Basel III-compliant capital and liquidity requirements ahead of the global schedule. Directly affects card-issuer capital cost, indirectly supports continued reliance on interchange income.
Source · CNBV