The BNPL Advantage: Why Next Growth Wave Will Be Payment-Led

Between 2023 and 2025, Mexico witnessed a rapid evolution in digital payment infrastructure, driven by pandemic-induced digitization, growing smartphone penetration, and increasing consumer preference for convenience and financial flexibility. According to the Bank of Mexico, digital transactions grew by 30.5% year-over-year in 2023, with mobile wallets and alternative payment methods accounting for nearly 40% of e-commerce transactions.

The post-pandemic shift in consumer behavior has made digital payments not just a convenience, but a competitive necessity. Businesses that once operated primarily through physical channels have now adopted digital-first models, requiring more flexible and inclusive payment systems to reach broader customer segments.

Carlos Ortega, digital innovation director of the Mexican Online Sales Association (AMVO), said,“The pandemic accelerated Mexico's payment digitization by 5 years. Today, this is no longer optional for companies seeking to remain competitive in any vertical.”

 

Understanding BNPL in the Mexican Context

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is a short-term financing model that allows consumers to make purchases and pay for them over time in interest-free or with competitive rates installments. Globally, BNPL has gained traction as a preferred method among younger generations, and Mexico is no exception.

As of 4Q424, BNPL adoption in Mexico grew by 78% compared to 2022, according to a joint study by Statista and Americas Market Intelligence. Over 10 million consumers in Mexico have used BNPL services, driven by the rise of fintech players like KueskiPay and Aplazo, and the expansion of BNPL offerings by major retailers.

In contrast to markets like Brazil and Argentina, where credit card usage is more widespread, Mexico's low credit card penetration (only 15% of adults, per INEGI 2023) makes BNPL a compelling alternative, particularly for the underbanked. This positions BNPL not just as a convenience tool, but as a financial inclusion mechanism.

 

Economic and Commercial Impact

The benefits of BNPL for midsized and large enterprises are tangible. Research from KPMG and McKinsey indicates that merchants offering BNPL see:

 

• 20% to 33% increase in conversion rates

• Average order value (AOV) increases of 41%

• Repeat purchase rates rising by 15-27%

 

In Mexico, retailers in the electronics and fashion sectors report up to 50% of online purchases through BNPL channels during promotional periods like Hot Sale or El Buen Fin (source: AMVO 2024)

 

Sector Use Cases

Retail: Department stores and marketplaces use BNPL to boost premium product sales by lowering the barrier to entry and increasing bundled purchases.

B2B Services: SaaS providers now offer BNPL to business clients to finance onboarding or license expansions.

Healthcare and Education: Clinics and universities have begun piloting BNPL models to help patients or students manage large expenses without traditional loans.

 

Case Study: Retail Chain

Initial Situation	BNPL Implementation	Results (6 months)
Cart abandonment rate: 68% AOV: $1,850 MXN Mobile conversion: 1.2%	Integration with 2 BNPL providers Implementation time: 8 weeks Prominent checkout visibility	Abandonment reduction: -22% AOV increase: +35% Mobile conversion: 2.8% 31% of orders via BNPL

 

Initially skeptical about integration complexity, we were surprised not only by the speed of implementation but the immediate impact on our conversion metrics, especially in the 18-35 age segment that represented our biggest growth challenge. – E-commerce director, outdoor and apparel retail chain, Conekta customer

 

Growth Opportunities

 

• Underbanked populations

With 42% of Mexican adults still lacking access to formal financial services (World Bank, 2023), BNPL allows merchants to reach a wider market, including Gen Z and informal workers.

 

• Omnichannel integration

Innovative BNPL providers are enabling both online and in-store purchases with seamless, real-time credit checks and approvals via mobile apps and QR codes, enhancing cross-channel consistency.

 

• Personalized financial journeys

Data-driven BNPL solutions can adapt repayment terms based on customer behavior, promoting responsible usage while increasing customer loyalty and lifetime value.

 

BNPL Aggregation: An Emerging Advantage 

As BNPL adoption continues to grow among consumers, businesses in Mexico, regardless the size, are beginning to encounter a common challenge: how to offer flexible payment options at scale, without adding operational and technical complexity.

One emerging solution is BNPL aggregation, a model that centralizes access to multiple BNPL providers through a single point of integration. While this model is more common in mature markets, its introduction in Mexico presents a unique opportunity for businesses to gain early-mover advantages by simplifying deployment, expanding consumer coverage, and improving internal efficiency.

 

Rethinking BNPL as an Operational Advantage

For businesses of any size in Mexico, offering BNPL at scale has often meant navigating a tangled web of provider contracts, technical integrations, and fragmented reporting. But there’s a quiet infrastructure shift underway that changes this dynamic: BNPL aggregation.

Rather than integrating separately with each provider, businesses can now streamline the entire process through a single connection point. This not only speeds up implementation — cutting development time dramatically – but also reduces the burden on internal IT teams. What was once a multimonth rollout becomes a faster, more manageable deployment.

One of our customers shared their experience transitioning from direct relationships with three separate BNPL providers to a single aggregator. The shift reduced operational costs by 37% while also increasing BNPL approval rates. The reduction in complexity alone justified the change, but the improved economics ultimately made it a transformative decision.

Beyond the technical side, aggregation simplifies the business of managing BNPL. Instead of juggling separate dashboards and data streams from different providers, merchants gain access to a centralized view of their entire BNPL operation. This unified reporting environment makes it easier to spot trends, compare provider performance, and fine-tune strategies based on consumer behavior and repayment patterns.

There’s also a notable impact on finance teams. Reconciliation and settlement processes, which often grow in complexity with each additional provider, become far more efficient when managed through a single, consolidated workflow. This translates into fewer manual interventions, less room for error, and a smoother month-end close.

On the consumer-facing side, aggregation enables smarter experiences. By connecting to multiple BNPL providers behind the scenes, businesses can offer customers a wider range of payment options, without complicating the checkout process. Intelligent routing systems can match each customer with the most appropriate provider in real time, boosting approval rates while maintaining a seamless user experience.

Finally, there’s the financial upside. Aggregating volume across providers can unlock better commercial terms, especially for businesses with variable or growing transaction volumes. Rather than negotiating rates provider by provider, businesses benefit from collective scale and the ability to manage costs more strategically.

In short, BNPL aggregation isn’t just about simplifying infrastructure, it’s about unlocking flexibility, visibility, and efficiency across the entire payment experience. As adoption grows, it may well become a foundational layer for businesses looking to future-proof their checkout strategies in Mexico.

 

Operational impact comparison

Aspect	Direct BNPL Relationships	Using a BNPL Aggregator
Technical integration	Multiple integrations and maintenance	Single API connection
Contract management	Multiple contracts with varying terms	One master agreement
Reconciliation	Multiple settlement reports and timelines	Unified reporting and settlements
Financial operations	Complex accounting across providers	Simplified financial operations
Customer service	Different processes per provider	Standardized support procedures
Cost structure	Variable fees and terms across providers	Predictable, often lower consolidated costs

 

Challenges and Considerations

 

While Mexico's Fintech Law (2018) provides a foundation for digital finance regulation, BNPL operates in a gray area. The CNBV has started exploring tighter oversight, especially regarding consumer transparency and debt accumulation. The current regulatory framework wasn't specifically designed for BNPL models. There are some signals that by late 2025, the CNBV will issue specific guidelines for these services, focusing primarily on consumer transparency and over-indebtedness prevention.

Fraud is another challenge for BNPL as well as Risk Management for both, Merchants and Financial Entities. BNPL's rapid approvals can open doors to synthetic identity fraud or over-indebtedness. As such, robust identity verification, ML and AI-driven risk models, and integration with antifraud platforms are critical.

Education is key, since many users misinterpret BNPL as "free credit," which can lead to mismanagement. Businesses should work with BNPL providers that promote transparency, reminders, and financial literacy tools.

 

The Future of Payments in Mexico

Let’s take a step back for a second. If you’ve been watching the payments space in Mexico over the last few years, you’ve probably noticed something: what used to be a fairly slow-moving ecosystem has suddenly shifted into high gear. This isn’t just about new tech popping up, it’s about deep changes in how people want to pay, and how businesses are expected to meet them where they are.

What we’re seeing now isn’t evolution, it’s acceleration. The digital economy is maturing fast, and the payments landscape is reshaping itself around a few key pillars: flexibility, security, and financial inclusion. Let’s break it down.

 

Emerging Trends

First up, biometric payments. Think fingerprint and facial recognition—not as futuristic perks, but as increasingly standard components of mobile and in-store transactions. The draw? Better security and a smoother user experience. For sectors like retail and financial services, where speed and trust are everything, this is becoming a no-brainer.

Then there’s crypto. Still a niche player in Mexico, sure, but it’s carving out a role, especially in cross-border commerce and among digital-native consumers. While regulatory uncertainty is still a speed bump, infrastructure is quietly improving behind the scenes.

And don’t overlook super apps. If you’ve used Mercado Pago, Rappi, or any telco-led wallet, you’ve already seen the model in action. These platforms aren’t just payment tools, they’re ecosystems. They’re where users shop, pay, save, and even borrow. The upside for businesses? Access to embedded audiences and hyper-personalized financial journeys.

 

Three- to Five-Year Outlook

Looking ahead, what’s coming down the pipeline?

According to Deloitte LATAM (2024):

• BNPL could account for 18–22% of Mexico’s e-commerce volume by 2027.

• Over 70% of midsized businesses will offer two or more alternative payment methods beyond credit or debit cards.

• Fintechs and traditional banks will form tighter partnerships to improve credit accessibility.

• BNPL aggregation is projected to become the default model for large enterprises — 65% of which are expected to prefer consolidated BNPL solutions.

 

What does all this mean? We’re heading toward a future where payment infrastructure isn’t just about processing transactions. It’s about enabling loyalty, driving repeat business, and unlocking growth through smarter user experiences.

 

Practical Implementation Strategies 

Let’s get real for a moment. Offering BNPL isn’t just about slapping a new button on your checkout screen and calling it a day. If you want it to work, really work, it needs to be tied into your business strategy, your tech stack, and your customer journey.

Step one: Evaluation. Ask yourself, what’s the right model for us? Direct contracts with individual BNPL providers can offer control, but come with heavy lifting. Aggregator models streamline implementation, simplify reconciliation, and often come with better commercial terms, especially for enterprise-level businesses.

Do the math. Look at your transaction volume and IT capacity. Calculating Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) between both options is critical.

 

Step two: Integration. Don’t wait for the next big sales season to launch, pilot BNPL during a high-traffic campaign and see how it performs. Smart merchants offer it at multiple points in the journey: at the cart, at checkout, and even as an upsell option.

And if you’re working with multiple providers? Use intelligent routing. The goal is to match customers with the BNPL provider most likely to approve them, without making them think twice. Look for solutions that can streamline the operation and management of the payment method, save you time and effort, while improving and simplifying your cost structure. 

 

Step three: Track what matters. This means keeping an eye on metrics like AOV (Average Order Value), cart abandonment, repayment defaults, and CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). Go deeper with cohort analysis. Compare performance between BNPL users and non-users to see what’s really moving the needle.

Don’t forget your internal KPIs, either. If switching to an aggregator shaves hours off your reconciliation cycle or reduces customer service tickets, that’s a win too.

 

Estimated ROI Calculator for BNPL Implementation

This calculator is not a forecast, it’s a tool to help you model potential outcomes. It’s designed to support internal discussions, build a business case, and help you estimate the possible impact of BNPL based on your current performance. Adjust the variables to reflect your actual data.

Metric	Your Current Value	BNPL Scenario	Estimated Impact
Website conversion rate	2.5%	3.1% (+25%)	+0.6% pts
Average order value (AOV)	$1,200 MXN	$1,680 MXN (+40%)	+$480 MXN
Monthly site traffic	100,000 visits	100,000 visits	Constant
Monthly sales	$3M MXN	$5.2M MXN	+$2.2M MXN
Implementation cost	-	$20K–$30K MXN	One-time
Operational cost (monthly)	$50K MXN	$40K MXN	Potential savings
Projected 3-month ROI	-	~150%	Based on uplift vs. cost

These figures are illustrative. Plug in your actual data for a more accurate business case.

 

BNPL Implementation Checklist

Internal Assessment

• What’s causing cart abandonment?

• Which customer segments will benefit most?

• Is our team technically ready?

Provider Selection

• Are their fees and settlement terms transparent?

• Can they integrate cleanly with our current setup?

• Do they offer strong fraud protection?

• What’s the depth of their provider network (if aggregator)?

Technical Implementation

• Is the API integration tested?

• Is the user experience seamless?

• Are analytics dashboards ready?

• Is reconciliation clearly mapped?

Launch Strategy

• Are support teams trained?

• Are we communicating clearly to customers?

• Have we defined pilot cohorts to test before scaling?

 

Let’s call it what it is: BNPL and new payment methods aren’t the future anymore — they’re the present. And they’re reshaping how Mexican consumers engage with brands. For midmarket and enterprise businesses, embracing this change isn’t just smart—it’s essential.

The rise of BNPL aggregation in particular offers a way to scale faster, operate more efficiently, and serve a wider audience, without the technical and financial chaos that usually comes with fragmented providers.

That said, with great flexibility comes responsibility. It’s not just about chasing growth. It’s about deploying these tools with care, balancing accessibility with transparency, and innovation with consumer protection.

The businesses that get this right? They won’t just grow. They’ll lead. Because the real future of payments in Mexico isn’t about offering more options, it’s about offering the right ones, to the right people, in the right way.