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Melbourne-founded, Singapore-based fintech Airwallex continues to lift its presence in the Americas after signing a definitive agreement to acquire MexPago for an undisclosed sum, following a period of 460 per cent year-on-year revenue growth in the region.
This compares to a growth rate of 300 per cent when Airwallex rolled out global payments in Canada six months ago.
Based in Huixquilucan just outside Mexico City with around 30 employees, MexPago was founded in 2014 by its CEO Luis Castillejos Ordaz and is a payment service provider and an Institution of Electronic Payment Funds (IFPE) licence holder.
According to an Airwallex spokesperson, its offering is similar to Airwallex in many ways, offering customers a wallet, integration with local payment methods, payment acquisition, and card issuing, as well as a point of sale (POS) acquiring solution for customers with a physical retail presence.
The acquisition will enable Airwallex to expand its financial infrastructure into Latin America and advance its mission to empower and support businesses to grow and operate across borders.
Airwallex's executive general manager for the Americas, Ravi Adusumilli, describes the acquisition as a critical milestone for the company, and coincides with several prominent hires for the group's San Francisco, California office.
"It marks our entry into Latin America and our commitment to building truly global and proprietary financial infrastructure," Adusumilli explains.
"Our team's ability to drive more than 460 per cent revenue growth in the Americas region is a testament to the vast, unmet demand for end-to-end fintech solutions that allow organisations to operate at a global scale.
"With the acquisition of MexPago, we’re on a path to become the number one payments and financial platform for modern businesses to go global. We’re excited to welcome Luis and the MexPago team to the Airwallex family."
Castillejos Ordaz says Airwallex's ability to connect companies across borders is "unparalleled".
"The combination of MexPago’s payments capabilities in Mexico and Airwallex’s global financial infrastructure will unlock exciting opportunities for companies in Mexico to operate globally, and for companies around the world to operate in Mexico," he says.
"I look forward to working closely with Airwallex to obtain the necessary approvals and to ensure a smooth transition of ownership."
Jack Zhang, who co-founded the now US$5.6 billion ($8.85 billion) company with Xijing Dai, Lucy Liu and Max Li in 2015, told CNBC the group now processes US$50 billion ($79 billion) in annualised transactions and saw great opportunities for cross-border flow between Mexico and the US.
"You get both the inflow and outflow of money," Zhang was quoted as saying.
"That’s really what we like the most. We can take a global company to Mexico and also help the global companies making payments to the supply chain," he told CNBC.
Airwallex currently employs 1,400 people globally with plans to hire more than 500 new teammates over the next year.
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