Kushki Become Latin America’s First Non-Bank Regional Acquirer

Kushki, a payment technology company, has become the first non-bank acquirer in Latin America. Through Kushki, businesses will be able to streamline their payment processes and consolidate various card transactions into a single account, irrespective of the card types used. Kushki anticipates that this move will drive a 300% increase in its operations across the region.

An acquiring bank serves as an intermediary between merchants and banks issuing credit or debit cards. It handles the processing of customer payments and is responsible for depositing the corresponding funds into the merchant's bank account. Previously, businesses were compelled to engage various bank-associated acquirers to process transactions from different debit or credit cards, requiring the maintenance of multiple bank accounts. 

“With a unified gateway, we offer businesses of all types, whether online or brick-and-mortar, the capacity to accept payments through a single integration. We streamline the process so that businesses are always up-to-date with the technology required for accepting payments in various Latin American countries,” Fernando López, Country Manager, Kushki, tells MBN. 

According to the company, through this new model, combined with additional financial services like payment processing and e-commerce platform plugins, businesses can establish a payment infrastructure on Kushki’s technology. 

“We have seen new businesses emerge throughout the region because this was what the commerce sector needed. Last year, our growth was 200% thanks to this model and we continue to experience almost exponential growth practically every week,” says López.

Traditional bank acquirers have shown little inclination to expand access or innovate their infrastructure, says the company. As a result, regulatory authorities in the region have collaborated with paytech companies to open up the market and broaden the ecosystem, reads Kushki’s press release. 

Paytech and payment gateway companies have played a significant role in promoting digital payments and financial inclusion in Mexico and Latin America by providing easy access to financial digital services. The country has witnessed growth in the sector, increasing from 10% to 23% digital finance penetration since the pandemic. However, this is still below the regional standard, according to Myriam Cosío, Chief External Affairs Officer, Clip. In Brazil and Chile, digital payment penetration is at 50% and in Argentina about 40%. 

In 2017, Kushki closed its Series A funding round at US$8 million, backed by firms like Dila Capital, Magma Partners, Kaszek Ventures, and Clocktower Ventures in 2017. In 2021, during its Series B round, the company raised US$86 million to expand its regional payments platform. It can handle 75,000 transactions per second with an uptime rate of 99.99%. 

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