Challenges of Payment Acceptance in LATAM & How to Solve Them

Expanding into Latin America (LATAM) is on the roadmap for many global businesses. With over 650 million people, substantial e-commerce growth and high mobile penetration, the region represents one of the most dynamic opportunities in digital commerce. But LATAM also presents one of the toughest hurdles: payment challenges.

From fragmented financial infrastructure to high decline rates, merchants quickly realise that success in this market requires more than simply enabling credit cards. The reality of payment acceptance in LATAM is that local trust, preferred methods and smart infrastructure make the difference between growth and abandoned checkouts.

So, how can businesses navigate these hurdles and turn LATAM’s complexity into an advantage?

LATAM Payment Challenges Every Merchant Faces

The first thing merchants learn when entering the region is that LATAM is not one market. Each country has unique regulations, banking systems and customer payment habits. That’s why solving payment acceptance LATAM issues requires a local-first mindset.

Some of the biggest hurdles include:

• High payment failure rates: Cross-border card transactions are often flagged as risky by issuers, leading to unnecessary declines.
• Fragmented banking infrastructure: Millions of consumers are unbanked or underbanked, relying on cash-based or voucher systems.
• Currency and FX volatility: Merchants face added costs and settlement challenges when converting between local currencies and USD/EUR.
• Fraud risks and regulation: The region experiences higher-than-average fraud attempts, and compliance requirements such as PSD2-style authentication vary by country.
• Complex integrations: Each acquirer and local PSP often comes with different APIs, making scalability difficult.

Before you think about growth, ask yourself: 

Are your current systems ready to handle this level of fragmentation? If not, you are already at risk of underperforming in one of the fastest-growing e-commerce regions.

The Role of Local Payment Methods in Latin America

Credit and debit cards dominate in some parts of the world, but in LATAM, local payment methods are the real driver of acceptance. Consumers trust and prefer the solutions they use daily, and without them, merchants face higher abandonment.

• Brazil: PIX, an instant payment system backed by the central bank, is already used by over 140 million people. Boleto Bancário remains a staple for cash-based customers.‍
• Mexico: SPEI, the interbank transfer system operated by the central bank, is one of the most widely used payment methods in the country, supporting fast, real-time transfers. ‍
• Colombia: PSE, a bank transfer system, is one of the most trusted ways to pay.‍
• Chile and Argentina: Local wallets and bank transfer options continue to grow alongside cards.

For global merchants, supporting the best payment methods in LATAM means more than just plugging in one or two local options. It’s about building a checkout experience that feels native to each market.

If your business isn’t offering the methods customers already use, you are giving your competitors the conversion.

How to Reduce Payment Failures in Latin America

One of the most pressing issues is high decline rates, a nightmare for merchants trying to expand. 

So, how to reduce payment failures in Latin America?

1. Local Acquiring: Processing payments through domestic banks instead of cross-border routes reduces fraud suspicion and increases approval rates.
2. Preferred APMs: Offering trusted alternative payment methods like PIX or wallets reduces dependence on cards and lowers abandonment.
3. Smart Routing & Retries: Directing transactions to the acquirer most likely to approve them and automatically retrying via another if declined prevents unnecessary failures.
4. Transparent FX Management: Letting customers pay in their home currency avoids surprise conversions that trigger declines.
5. 3DS and Authentication Optimisation: Balancing fraud prevention with customer experience keeps conversion rates steady.

The takeaway? 

Reducing failures is about building flexible infrastructure that adapts to LATAM’s unique risks.

Payment Orchestration for LATAM Markets

Trying to manage this complexity with siloed PSP integrations is inefficient. This is why payment orchestration for LATAM markets is becoming the go-to solution for ambitious merchants.

A payment orchestration platform provides:

• A single integration to multiple acquirers, PSPs and APMs.
• Smart routing for better approval rates.
• Faster onboarding of new local payment methods.
• Centralised reporting for reconciliation across currencies and providers.

If your expansion strategy relies on building one integration at a time, you’re already behind.

Best Payment Methods for LATAM Merchants

What counts as “best” depends on the country but the principle remains the same: Follow the customer. 

In practice, this means:

• Adding real-time bank transfer systems like PIX and PSE.
• Supporting voucher payments like OXXO and Boleto to capture cash-preferred consumers.
• Embracing digital wallets that dominate mobile-first markets.
• Offering multi-currency pricing to build trust.

Merchants that ignore these methods see higher abandonment and lost sales. Those who embrace them not only reduce friction but also build credibility in new markets.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

The impact of poor payment infrastructure in LATAM is severe. Lost bookings, wasted marketing spend, rising support costs and damaged brand trust are the domino effect of this.

Cross-border declines don’t just affect short-term revenue, they also push customers toward competitors. Every failed transaction represents both a financial and reputational loss.

Can you afford to lose customers at checkout simply because you didn’t support the right method or acquirer?

The Future of Payments in LATAM

The landscape isn’t static. Open banking, real-time payment systems and mobile-first adoption will only make LATAM more dynamic in the coming years. Businesses that remain flexible, adding new methods as they emerge, will keep ahead of the curve.

That’s why orchestration is not just a fix but a long-term strategy. It equips merchants to adapt quickly as the payments ecosystem evolves.

Benefits of Payment Orchestration for LATAM Merchants 

Solving LATAM payment challenges requires more than patchwork integrations. Success depends on supporting local payment methods in Latin America, reducing failures with smart routing and unifying systems through payment orchestration.

The benefits are clear:

Higher approval rates, lower costs and a customer experience that feels truly local.

Expanding into LATAM is one of the biggest growth opportunities, but only if your payments work as expected.

At finera., we help merchants cut through complexity with our payment ecosystem designed for LATAM and beyond. From adding the best payment methods for LATAM merchants to reducing failures and optimising cross-border transactions, our platform gives you the infrastructure to grow.

Reach out to our team today and let’s build a LATAM payment strategy that converts.