How people pay in Mexico in 2026
Mexico is a market in transition. Cash is still everywhere, but digital rails are growing fast. In the 2024 national financial inclusion survey by INEGI and CNBV, 76.5% of adults aged 18 to 70 held at least one formal financial product, and 69.1% of account holders used a banking app. Yet 85.2% still prefer cash for purchases up to 500 pesos. Cards remain the main digital instrument: Banxico data show 11.26 billion card payments worth MXN 6.44 trillion in 2025, up 14% in volume.
The real story is SPEI, the central bank's instant payment system. It processed more than 7.3 billion transfers in 2025, up 36.8%, and Banxico expects SPEI operations to exceed card payments by the end of 2026. Online, e-commerce reached MXN 941 billion in 2025 and 17.7% of retail sales, according to AMVO. Shoppers use debit cards first, credit cards with meses sin intereses next, then cash at OXXO and other stores, bank transfers and BNPL. Mercado Pago, Spin by OXXO and Nu add a wallet and neobank layer on top. A checkout for Mexico needs all of these.
- 7.3 billion SPEI transfers in 2025 (STP via Xataka)
- 11.26 billion card payments in 2025 (Banxico via Expansión)
- MXN 941 billion e-commerce retail sales in 2025 (AMVO)
- 85.2% of adults prefer cash for purchases up to 500 pesos (ENIF 2024 via Xataka)
Payment by card in Mexico
Mexico is a debit card country. Of the 11.26 billion card payments recorded by Banxico in 2025, only 28% were made with credit cards, and the total value of card payments rose 11% to MXN 6.44 trillion. Visa leads issuance: Banxico data cited by DPL News give it 64% of debit cards and 61% of credit cards in September 2025. Mastercard holds most of the rest, while Carnet, the domestic scheme created by the switch Prosa, is a lower-cost brand that works only in Mexico. In February 2026 the antitrust authority blocked Visa's bid to buy 51% of Prosa, citing the risk to Carnet.
Online, cards dominate. In AMVO's 2026 study, 69% of online shoppers paid with a debit card and 54% with a credit card, and department store cards such as Liverpool or Coppel add 16%. Credit cards matter because they unlock meses sin intereses. Fees are under review: in October 2025, CNBV and Banxico consulted on capping interchange fees at 0.3% for debit and 0.6% for credit, a proposal later withdrawn for further review. Read our guide to how card networks work for the basics.
Card schemes in Mexico
Visa
International scheme
The leading card brand in Mexico, on most debit cards issued by banks and on many credit cards, accepted at almost every terminal and online checkout.
64% share of debit cards issued in Mexico, September 2025, Banxico data cited by DPL News
Mastercard
International scheme
The second global scheme in Mexico, issued by major banks and by fintechs and neobanks on debit and credit cards.
Carnet
Domestic card scheme
Mexico's own card brand, created by the switch Prosa and valid only inside the country. The antitrust authority cited Carnet's viability when it blocked Visa’s purchase of 51% of Prosa in February 2026.
63% share of Mexican card transactions handled by Prosa, DPL News
American Express
International scheme
Issues its own premium credit cards and works with partner banks in Mexico. Acceptance is narrower than Visa and Mastercard, but strong in travel and large retail.
Department store cards
Store credit card
Private label credit cards from retailers such as Liverpool and Coppel, used in their stores and online shops, often with installment offers.
16% of online shoppers paid with a department store credit card in 2025, AMVO
Payment by cash in Mexico
Cash remains the default for small, everyday spending. INEGI's ENIF 2024 shows that 85.2% of adults prefer cash for transactions up to 500 pesos and 73.5% for larger amounts. In the Global Payments Report, cash still accounted for 40% of point-of-sale spending value in 2025, against 9% of e-commerce value.
Online, cash survives through vouchers. The shopper gets a reference or barcode and pays at a store counter. OXXO, with 24,708 stores in Mexico at the end of June 2026, is the leading network, and OXXO Pay is now run through FEMSA's Spin. Other chains such as 7-Eleven, Farmacias del Ahorro and Walmart collect payments through aggregator networks like Paynet. In AMVO's 2026 study, 23% of online shoppers paid cash at a retail chain and 14% paid cash on delivery. Cash on delivery remains common for marketplace and social commerce orders. Our article on the transition from cash to digital payments shows how other markets made the shift.
Cash payment methods in Mexico
Cash
Banknotes and coins
Peso banknotes and coins are still the main way to pay for small purchases at corner shops, markets and transport.
85.2% of adults prefer cash for transactions up to 500 pesos, ENIF 2024, INEGI and CNBV via Xataka
OXXO Pay
Convenience store cash
Shoppers receive a payment reference at checkout and pay in cash at any OXXO store. The service is now powered by Spin, with a MXN 17 fee paid by the customer at the counter.
24,708 OXXO stores in Mexico at the end of June 2026, FEMSA
Paynet
Cash payment network
Cash collection network linked to Openpay, used to pay online orders at chains such as 7-Eleven, Farmacias del Ahorro, Walmart, Bodega Aurrerá and Farmacias Guadalajara. Chilango reported over 32,000 affiliated points in 2020.
Cash on delivery
Cash on delivery
Paying the courier at the door is still offered by marketplaces and social sellers, especially for first-time buyers who distrust online payments.
14% of online shoppers paid cash on delivery in 2025, AMVO
Payment by bank transfer in Mexico
SPEI, the interbank payment system operated by Banco de México since 2004, is the backbone of digital money in the country. It settles transfers in seconds, around the clock, and it processed more than 7.3 billion transfers in 2025, up 36.8% on 2024, according to STP using Banxico figures. Banxico expects SPEI to overtake card payments by the end of 2026. Expansión reports that 78% of formal businesses accept electronic transfers. Merchants receive SPEI payments through CLABE references, which gateways reconcile automatically.
Banxico built two overlays on SPEI. CoDi, launched in 2019, lets merchants request payment by QR code, a form of request to pay, but adoption stayed limited. DiMo, launched in 2023, uses a mobile number as the account alias, and more than 11 million accounts were linked at 21 institutions by November 2024. New Banxico rules published in June 2026 require banks to accept transfers to a phone number or debit card number by December 14, 2026. Read more on account-to-account payments.
Bank transfer methods in Mexico
SPEI
Instant payment
Banxico's real-time interbank system, used for person-to-person transfers, bill payments and online checkout through CLABE references, available 24/7.
7.3 billion+ SPEI transfers in 2025, up 36.8% year on year, STP via Xataka
DiMo
Phone number transfer
Dinero Móvil lets users send SPEI transfers to a 10-digit mobile number linked to an account, with the payee name shown before confirmation.
11 million+ accounts linked to DiMo at 21 institutions, November 2024, Banco de México
CoDi
QR request to pay
Banxico's Cobro Digital scheme, launched in 2019, lets merchants show a QR code or send a payment request that the buyer approves in a banking app, settled on SPEI. Banxico is now folding it with DiMo into simpler SPEI app flows.
Bank deposit and transfer at checkout
Pay by bank
Online stores and gateways issue a CLABE or a referenced deposit slip, and the shopper pays from a banking app or at a branch.
20% of online shoppers paid by deposit or bank transfer in 2025, AMVO
Payment by installment and BNPL in Mexico
Mexicans finance purchases more than they defer them, and the classic tool is meses sin intereses (MSI). Credit card holders split a purchase into 3 to 24 monthly installment payments with no interest, paid by the merchant through a discount. MSI drives big sales events such as Hot Sale and Buen Fin, but it needs a credit card, and only 28% of card payments in 2025 used one. A Mercado Pago executive told AMVO's Hot Sale 2026 press event that only 34 issuers offer MSI.
Cardless BNPL fills the gap. In AMVO's 2026 study, 9% of online shoppers used BNPL without a card, such as Kueski Pay. Kueski Pay, Aplazo and Mercado Pago's credit line lead the market, and Klarna now operates locally with pay in 4. Aplazo has moved into physical retail with Soriana and Walmart. Research and Markets, quoted by Xataka, sizes the Mexican BNPL market at about US$4 billion in 2025.
Installment and BNPL providers in Mexico
Meses sin intereses
Card installments
Interest-free monthly installments on credit cards, typically 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 or 24 months, offered by issuers and acquirers and also exposed by international PSPs such as Stripe.
Kueski Pay
BNPL
Mexican BNPL that splits purchases into biweekly payments without a card, available at Amazon, SHEIN, Viva Aerobus and, since March 2026, Huawei's online store.
~40% of Mexico's main e-commerce merchants have integrated Kueski Pay, March 2026, DPL News
Aplazo
BNPL
Mexican BNPL for online and in-store purchases in biweekly payments, with exclusive digital credit through Walmart's Cashi and, since May 2026, all 771 Soriana stores.
15,000+ merchants and stores using Aplazo, May 2026, DPL News
Mercado Pago credit
Wallet credit
Mercado Pago lends to its users through installment credit at checkout, inside and outside Mercado Libre, and through its credit card.
18 million pre-approved credit lines in Mexico, May 2026, Mercado Pago via DPL News
Klarna
BNPL
The Swedish provider operates in Mexico through Klarna Payments, S.A. de C.V., with pay in 4 biweekly payments at 0% CAT at partner stores and through its app.
Payment by digital wallet and X-Pay in Mexico
Wallets in Mexico are mostly local fintech apps, not phone tokens. In the Global Payments Report, digital wallets made up 26% of e-commerce value in 2025 but only 9% of point-of-sale value. Mercado Pago leads: it topped AMVO's 2026 ranking of payment institutions with 71% of online shoppers naming it, ahead of BBVA (70%), PayPal (48%) and Nu (47%). Its Mexican monthly active users grew 45% year on year in Q2 2026, and it counts 1.4 million active acquiring devices in the country.
FEMSA's Spin by OXXO links wallets to the store network, with 11.5 million active users and 119.1 million transactions a month in Q2 2026. Nu Mexico had 15.8 million customers at the end of June 2026 and started operating as a bank on August 6, 2026. Apple Pay and Google Pay complete the X-Pay layer for tokenized cards, mostly in large cities.
Digital wallets and X-Pay in Mexico
Mercado Pago
Super-app wallet
Mercado Libre's fintech arm offers a wallet, QR and card payments, account balances, credit and merchant acquiring, and is the most recognized payment brand among Mexican online shoppers.
+45% year-on-year growth in Mexican monthly active users, Q2 2026, MercadoLibre
Spin by OXXO
Retail wallet
FEMSA's account and card app, with cash-in and cash-out at OXXO counters, transfers and the Spin Premia loyalty program.
11.5 million active users in Q2 2026, up 22.1% year on year, FEMSA
Nu
Neobank app
Nubank's Mexican unit issues credit and debit cards and high-yield accounts, and began operating as a licensed bank in August 2026.
15.8 million customers in Mexico at the end of June 2026, DPL News
PayPal
Online wallet
Widely used for cross-border shopping and by international merchants selling into Mexico; 48% of online shoppers named it as a payment institution in AMVO's Hot Sale 2026 survey.
Apple Pay
Mobile wallet
Apple's wallet for tokenized cards from major Mexican banks, used for contactless payments in stores and one-click payments online and in apps.
Google Pay
Mobile wallet
The Android wallet for tap-to-pay with tokenized Visa and Mastercard cards, and a checkout button on international and local gateways.
Payments in Mexico: FAQ
What is the most popular online payment method in Mexico?
Debit cards. In AMVO's 2026 study, 69% of online shoppers paid with a debit card, 54% with a credit card and 23% in cash at a store such as OXXO. Shoppers use 2.3 methods on average, so merchants need several options.
What is SPEI and can merchants use it at checkout?
SPEI is Banco de México's instant interbank payment system, running 24/7. It handled more than 7.3 billion transfers in 2025. Merchants accept it through gateways that issue a CLABE reference per order and confirm payment in seconds.
What are meses sin intereses?
Meses sin intereses (MSI) let credit card holders split a purchase into monthly payments with no interest, usually from 3 to 24 months, while the merchant absorbs the cost. Only a minority of shoppers hold credit cards, which is why cardless BNPL such as Kueski Pay and Aplazo grew. 9% of online shoppers used cardless BNPL in 2025.
How do Mexicans pay online with cash?
They receive a reference at checkout and pay at a store counter, mostly at OXXO, which had 24,708 stores in Mexico in June 2026, or at chains such as 7-Eleven and Farmacias del Ahorro. Payment is confirmed to the merchant automatically. Cash on delivery is also common.
Accept local payments in Mexico with NORBr
In Mexico, gateways such as Openpay and Conekta bundle cards, SPEI and OXXO cash vouchers, while Clip and Mercado Pago lead small-merchant card acceptance. Check Carnet and meses sin intereses support, SPEI and cash reconciliation, and peso settlement.
With NORBr, you can connect any acquirer, PSP or local provider that offers cards with meses sin intereses, SPEI transfers, OXXO Pay cash vouchers and wallets such as Mercado Pago. Some are already in our connector catalog; Mapper™ gets the others live in days, and Smart Checkout shows each shopper the right methods. Explore the other #PayWorldTour guides.
Local payment providers in Mexico
Openpay
Payment gateway
Mexican payment gateway owned by BBVA México, serving online merchants with card payments, bank transfers and cash payments through its Paynet store network.
Covers: Cards, Carnet, SPEI, Paynet cash payments
Conekta
Payment gateway
Mexico City gateway founded in 2012 that serves e-commerce and enterprise merchants with cards, transfers and cash payments in a single integration.
Covers: Cards, Carnet, SPEI, OXXO Pay
Clip
Aggregator
Mexican payment aggregator that equips small businesses with card terminals and payment links, accepting debit and credit cards in person and online.
Covers: Visa, Mastercard, Carnet, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Mercado Pago
Aggregator
The payments arm of Mercado Libre, serving online and in-store merchants of every size in Mexico with a checkout, QR codes and Point terminals.
Covers: Cards, Mercado Pago, OXXO Pay, SPEI
Tonder
Payment orchestration
Mexican payment orchestration platform that lets merchants connect several acquirers and local methods through one API, with routing to raise approval rates.
Covers: Cards, SPEI, OXXO Pay
