The number of credit and debit card readers provided by banks, which are bulkier than Mercado Pago devices and print paper receipts, has stagnated, while new digital payment players have deployed more than four million terminals, with prices around US$8.

Mercado Pago, the fintech arm of Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre, has seen adoption of its slim mobile credit card readers more than double in the last year, outpacing options offered by banks and fintech Clip, said the Argentina-based entity.

In Mexico, cash is still king and, as Latin America's second economy, it is still far behind Brazil in terms of digitalization, detailed Brigitte Brousset, director of merchant financing at Mercado Pago in Mexico.

Brazil had been in a similar situation, but credit card adoption was swift and the Pix system, backed by that country's central bank, now threatens to take digital payments over.

In Mexico, "we are still behind other countries," Brousset said Friday, "but market penetration has accelerated."

Five years ago, around one million credit card readers provided by traditional banks and another million by third parties --such as Mercado Pago and the Mexican digital payments platform Clip-- were used by sellers and stores in the country, according to the company.

Now, the number of bank-provided credit card readers, which are bulkier than Mercado Pago devices and print paper receipts, has plateaued, while new digital payment players have deployed more than four million terminals, the firm said.

Mercado Pago's readership percentage growth in Mexico was in the "low triple digits" over the past year, Brousset said, "which is actually pretty fast." She declined to share comparisons with other countries where the company operates.

Getting a traditional reader from a bank can require a lengthy visit to a branch where sellers have an account, said Brousset, who by comparison highlighted the ease of ordering one online from Mercado Pago, where reader devices are priced as low as 149 Mexican pesos (US$ 8.07).

In addtion to credit card readers, Mercado Pago Mexico also offers loans, credit and debit cards, and transfers from abroad.

The firm approved more than 1 million loans for small businesses in the country last year and expects to surpass two million in 2024, Brousset said.

Last May, Mercado Pago announced that it would apply for a banking license in the country in the coming months, which would allow it to provide services such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), commercial loans and mortgages.

Brousset said it was too early to discuss how the license would affect merchants' options.