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Nuvei Corp. is making its next move in Mexico with the launch of direct acquiring.
This will enable businesses to process card transactions locally through Nuvei’s own licensed infrastructures, Montreal-based Nuvei says. The move enables Nuvei to operate directly inside domestic payment systems in Mexico, which should help merchants improve approval rates, provide more insight into transactions, and make it easier to manage payments across a single platform, the company says.
Nuvei, however, won’t just benefit from direct acquiring of domestic credit and debit card payments within Mexico. There’s an international potential.
“This is as much about bringing global businesses into Mexico as it is about strengthening Mexican commerce itself,” Juan Soto, Nuvei general manager for Latin America, tells Digital Transactions News in an email. “International companies need to operate like local players, while Mexican businesses are increasingly scaling beyond their home market and need infrastructure to support that growth.”
The potential is there. More than $676 billion in transaction volume was conducted in Mexico in 2024, found a report from Payments & Commerce Market Intelligence. E-commerce volume of $97 billion in 2024 makes Mexico the second-largest online market in Latin America.
Nuvei says it now processes card transactions in Mexico via direct integrations with domestic entities and global card networks. One benefit of direct acquiring is that merchants can continue to accept card payments, and now access local payment methods, offer payouts, better manage risk, and see real-time transaction reporting.
As Soto says, “At the same time, through a single platform, it gives Mexican businesses a more direct path to scale internationally without rebuilding their payments stack market by market. This isn’t simply about expanding in Mexico. It’s about connecting Mexico more directly into global commerce, and improving performance on both sides of that equation.”
Nuvei’s direct-acquiring expansion in Mexico is a solid move, suggests Cliff Gray, principal at Gray Consulting Ventures LLC, and indicative of the approach its leadership likes to make.
“Classic Philip Fayer, seeking new markets,” Gray says of Nuvei’s chair and chief executive. “He has solid product. Why wouldn’t he try to monetize it across new markets? Philip has always been forward-thinking, from both business and technology perspectives, and Mexico represents fertile ground for such thinking, given the broad array of payment rails in the region. Nuvei would benefit from growth in a new region, while improving payment-type and multi-currency capabilities. If Nuvei is successful in Mexico, the rest of Latin America won’t be much of a challenge.”
Soto says Nuvei’s merchant-acquisition strategy in Mexico will center on those with both strong domestic performance and the ability to scale beyond it.
“That includes global businesses entering Mexico, Mexican companies expanding internationally, and local merchants optimizing their operations within the market,” he says. “The advantage is a single platform that combines direct local acquiring with global reach, so merchants can perform in Mexico today while having the infrastructure in place to grow, without needing to rebuild their payments setup as they scale.”
Soto goes on to say that Nuvei views this launch as an illustration of a broader shift in how global payments infrastructure is being built.
“Commerce may be increasingly global, but performance is still determined locally, which is why providers are moving away from purely cross-border models toward deeper, market-by-market investment,” Soto says. “Mexico is a clear example of that in practice. By operating directly in the market, Nuvei can remove intermediaries, improve transaction performance, and offer a more complete set of capabilities through a single integration. At the same time, it strengthens the link between local and global commerce, allowing businesses to move between markets more easily.”
