Mercado Pago - Mercado Libre

Democratizing access to financial services in Latin America

Mercado Pago serves both merchants and individuals, and it is our ambition to become the default financial solution provider to many of our users.

A complete offer of financial services, powered by proprietary data and technology

From a digital account, to insurance and payment processing, Mercado Pago serves both sides of financial transactions with friendly and accessible solutions. We leverage our proprietary data to understand consumer behavior and better serve our users.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question that is not answered? You can contact us at investor@mercadolibre.com

General

Mercado Pago is a financial institution, with specific licenses in each country to offer financial services.

Mercado Pago has the technology and capabilities to act as a full acquirer, and does so in the main geographies.

Mercado Pago accounts are available for free in all geographies where we operate our Fintech platform.

On Marketplace TPV: Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions made on Mercado Libre’s ecommerce platform paid for using Mercado Pago.
Off Marketplace TPV: Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions paid for using Mercado Pago with our Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS), QR Code or Merchant Services products. It does not include the transactions made on Mercado Libre’s ecommerce platform.
Acquiring TPV: Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all of Mercado Pago’s acquiring products – see “Products” section below for more information.
Digital Account TPV: Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all of Mercado Pago’s digital account products – see “Products” section below for more information.

Products

Mercado Pago users access a number of financial services through their free digital accounts, beyond payments, transfers and other day to day transactions

- Card: Mercado Pago users can receive a free debit card with their accounts and, for those with a pre-approved credit line, a credit card.
- Investments: users are able to access a range of simple investment products, including savings pots, that help users to organize their finances to build reserves for emergencies or specific purchases such as a holiday, a car or home improvements. Users can also access basic fixed income investments, such as CDBs in Brazil
- Insurance: users have access to life, personal accident, and card / account protection, as well as extended warranty insurance.
- Crypto Wallet: Mercado Pago offers a crypto wallet so users can buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency through a third-party exchange.

Mercado Pago serves merchants with a wide range of payment solutions tailored to different needs, all combined with the ability to anticipate / discount receivables

- Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS): Mercado Pago’s POS devices are offered to serve merchants of all sizes. This product allows merchants to process physical credit and debit cards.
- QR Payments: online or in-store QR payments to enable quick and easy payments
- Merchant Services: Designed to meet the growing demand for internet-based payments systems in Latin America, allowing merchants to facilitate checkout and payment processes on their online stores or through payment links.

Financial & Accounting

Mercado Pago’s revenue streams are primarily composed of:

1) transactional fees charged for processing merchants’ payments;

2) net financing fees, which are generated when Mercado Pago anticipates receivables to sellers;

3) POS device sales.

When we discount receivables to sellers, the associated financing cost appears in our P&L as:

1) contra-revenues, where we also discount the merchant’s receivables directly with banks of acquirers;

2) cost of net revenues, where we use special purpose vehicles to discount merchants’ receivables;

3) interest expense, where we take on debt in order to hold the merchants’ receivables until maturity. Currently, most of the cost is booked as contra-revenue.