Reshaping Latin America’s Payments Landscape: From Cash Society to Mobile-First, Six Major Trends Behind Cross-Border Growth

Reshaping Latin America's Payment Landscape: From a Cash Society to Mobile-First, Six Major Trends Behind Cross-Border Growth

Introduction: The Latin American payments market is undergoing a rapid migration from cash to mobile-first solutions. Industry forecasts show that the region's digital payment revenue is expected to surpass US$300 billion by 2027. The proliferation of digital wallets, central bank-led real-time payment systems, and the expansion of cross-border e-commerce and gig platforms together form the growth engine; however, fragmented payment channels, continuously evolving regulatory requirements, and high exchange rate volatility are still constraining companies' ability to scale operations.

Industry Background: Three Structural Forces

The rise of Latin America's digital economy is being driven by changes in three areas.

First, rising digital adoption. The proliferation of mobile devices and the expansion of fintech services have opened new financial gateways for people long excluded from the traditional banking system. Digital wallets, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and mobile payments are giving previously underserved groups access to the financial system for the first time, while also creating new customer segments for businesses. In Argentina, for example, mobile wallets have become a primary payment method for everyday purchases, and Mercado Pago QR codes are widely visible among street merchants; the Central Bank of Argentina's Transferencias 3.0 enables QR code payments interoperability between banks and wallets, reaching 62.6 million transactions in December 2024 and continuing to grow thereafter.

Second, central bank-led payment infrastructure innovation. Regulators are no longer just rule-makers; they are also directly driving payment infrastructure upgrades. Brazil's central bank launched Pix in 2020, and it now has more than 165 million users. Mexico's SPEI has become a regional benchmark, supporting 24/7 instant transfers and forcing banks and financial institutions to update their own infrastructure. The Central Bank of Colombia's low-value real-time payment system, Bre-B, launched in October 2025, is positioned to enable interoperability between bank accounts and other deposit-type products, such as mobile wallets. The common goal of these systems is to increase financial inclusion and reduce reliance on cash.

Third, the growth of e-commerce and gig platforms. Marketplaces, delivery platforms, and gig apps all rely on fast, low-cost money movement to remain competitive. The expansion of these business models in the Latin American market has accelerated the adoption of digital wallets, cross-border transactions, and alternative payment channels. For merchants and platforms, payment integration capabilities directly affect customer acquisition, seller retention, and liquidity management in high-volume, low-margin scenarios.

Current Developments: Six Trends Worth Watching

The convergence of digital adoption, regulatory reform, and cross-border demand is giving rise to six representative trends.

1. Digital Wallets Become MainstreamDigital wallets have become a core tool for everyday transactions, especially popular among consumers actively seeking alternatives to traditional banks. Digital wallets and account-to-account (A2A) payment methods together already account for 46% of Latin American e-commerce transaction value, up from about 21% in 2023. The rapid growth of digital payments has also intensified competition, with providers such as Mercado Pago, Nubank, and Rappi Pay widely used across the region. For underbanked populations, wallets mean lower barriers to entry, greater convenience, and lower costs; for businesses, they mean faster customer onboarding, new customer segments, and higher transaction success rates. Because fees are low or even zero, some consumers prefer digital wallets over bank channels.

2. Real-Time Payments Scale Up

Real-time payment systems are changing how individuals and businesses transact in Latin America. Brazil’s Pix has become a regional benchmark, processing 63 billion transactions in 2025, and is widely credited with driving the country’s economic transformation. Colombia’s Bre-B officially launched on October 6, 2025, aiming to enable seamless interoperability between bank accounts and other deposit products, including mobile wallets. For participants in cross-border money movement, such systems mean higher payment success rates and true real-time settlement. For consumers, QR code payments through systems such as Pix offer speed and convenience both online and offline; for businesses, real-time payments improve liquidity, speed up reconciliation, and increase transparency.

3. Cross-Border E-Commerce Drives Innovation

Remittance flows into Latin America exceeded $156 billion in 2023, with the U.S.–Mexico corridor alone accounting for more than $66 billion. This demand is driving innovation among payment providers, mainly in the following areas: connecting local payment rails to global platforms so merchants can settle in local currency without relying on costly correspondent banking networks; using stablecoins and blockchain-based rails to reduce foreign exchange risk and speed up settlement; deploying multi-currency digital wallets that allow consumers and freelancers to receive international payments instantly; and embedding compliance tools (KYC and anti-money laundering screening) directly into cross-border transaction flows to reduce fraud and regulatory friction.

4. Financial Inclusion and Alternative Payment Methods

More than 200 million adults in Latin America remain unbanked. Mobile-first and wallet-based services are filling this gap, providing this population with their first entry point into the digital economy. This is the fundamental reason alternative payment methods continue to gain share in the region: they are not merely competing on price, but addressing the needs of populations that traditional bank branches and product design cannot reach.

5. The Rise of Crypto and Stablecoin AdoptionThe use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in payments and remittances has increased. In corridors where local currency exchange rates fluctuate sharply, stablecoins are used to preserve value and have also become an optional channel for cross-border fund transfers. It should be noted that adoption of such tools is highly correlated with the clarity of local regulatory frameworks, and their role is closer to that of settlement and value-preservation tools than speculative assets.

6. Regulation and Compliance Become Competitive Factors

Digital-first regulatory systems and regulatory sandboxes are encouraging innovation. For companies, choosing partners that strictly comply with each country’s local regulatory framework has become a prerequisite for entering Latin American markets. This turns compliance capability from a cost center into a market-access capability.

It is worth noting that cross-border payment infrastructure providers are aggregating the aforementioned local channels under unified technical interfaces. Thunes, which published this industry insight, emphasizes access to its compliant real-time global network through a single API to cover Latin American markets—this model itself reflects a direction in the industry: companies no longer connect to channels country by country, but instead gain regional coverage through an aggregation layer.

Impact on the Financial System

Payment efficiency. Real-time payment systems and improved interoperability have moved settlement from batch processing to 24/7. Wallets and A2A payments reduce the costs and delays brought by card networks and correspondent banks, while local currency settlement in cross-border scenarios reduces losses from multiple currency conversions.

Financial inclusion. Wallets, BNPL, and mobile payments provide a first access point for the unbanked population, and alternative payment methods expand the reach of financial services. For freelancers and gig workers in the platform economy, multicurrency wallets mean they can receive international payments instantly.

Banking competition. The rising market share of central bank-led instant payment systems and wallet providers puts pressure on traditional banks’ fee income and customer relationships, while also forcing banks to upgrade core systems and digital banking capabilities. Mexico’s SPEI driving banks to modernize infrastructure is an observable case.

Compliance costs. Cross-border business requires meeting KYC and AML requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Embedding compliance tools into transaction flows helps reduce friction and improve approval rates, but upfront system investment and ongoing monitoring costs remain, especially for small and medium-sized payment service providers.

Risk management. Multicurrency settlement and exchange rate volatility mean companies need more transparent FX mechanisms and funding arrangements; while real-time settlement improves efficiency, it also compresses the time window for manual review, placing higher demands on anti-fraud and anomalous transaction identification capabilities.From a stakeholder perspective: beneficiaries include consumers (especially the unbanked), gig workers and freelancers, cross-border e-commerce businesses and platform merchants, and payment service providers and digital banks able to connect to local real-time rails; those under pressure are institutions that rely on correspondent banking networks and traditional card business revenue, as well as cross-border enterprises with insufficient technology integration and compliance readiness.

Challenges

Fragmented payment rails. Latin America is not a single market. Systems, clearing rules, and technical standards differ from country to country, making it difficult for businesses to cover the entire region with one solution, which directly drives up integration and operational costs.

Continuously evolving regulatory frameworks. Regulatory requirements are constantly adjusted as markets develop, so compliance strategies need to remain dynamically updated. Cross-border businesses in particular must strike a balance across different jurisdictions.

Exchange rate volatility. High volatility in local currencies affects pricing, settlement, and capital preservation, making it one of the core variables in cross-border pricing and treasury management.

Data privacy and cybersecurity. Real-time, cross-border data flows expand the attack surface and extend the compliance perimeter; identity verification and data governance capabilities have become part of the infrastructure.

Difficulty of technology integration. Integrating local real-time rails, wallet capabilities, and cross-border functions into existing systems imposes transformation requirements on banks' and platforms' technical architecture, reconciliation systems, and operational processes.

Maturity of new systems. Systems such as Bre-B have only just launched, and the maturity of ecosystem participant onboarding, use case coverage, and user experience still needs time to be verified.

Future Outlook

Over the next three to five years, payments in Latin America may evolve along several main lines.

First, the regionalization and interconnection of real-time payment networks. Systems such as Pix, SPEI, and Bre-B have already demonstrated their efficiency at the domestic level. If connections can be established among real-time payment systems within the region, the speed and success rate of cross-border settlement will improve further.

Second, the share of digital wallets and A2A payments is expected to continue rising. Its growth will be driven by the continued onboarding of the unbanked and merchants' pursuit of lower acceptance costs.

Third, the use of stablecoins and blockchain rails in remittances and B2B settlement may expand further. The pace of progress will depend on the clarity of regulatory frameworks in each jurisdiction.

Fourth, compliance and identity verification capabilities will move from back-office functions to product capabilities. Institutions able to seamlessly integrate KYC/AML with transaction flows will have a more obvious competitive advantage in cross-border business.

Fifth, corporate payment architecture will shift from "connecting country by country" to "covering the region through aggregated interfaces." This change lowers market entry barriers and will also reshape competition among payment service providers—the focus of competition will shift from the number of rails to settlement speed, compliance coverage, and data transparency.For banks, payment institutions, and fintech companies, the opportunities and complexity of the Latin American market are rising in tandem. Understanding the operating logic of local real-time rails, the differences in regulatory frameworks, and the real demand for cross-border money flows is a prerequisite for formulating a regional strategy.

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*Source: Thunes, “LATAM payments: Trends shaping cross-border growth”, https://www.thunes.com/insights/trends/latam-payments-trends-shaping-cross-border-growth*