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Merchant guide

Mexico OXXO and SPEI for ecommerce merchants

Most Mexican shoppers still pay with cash or a local bank transfer rather than a card. This guide explains how OXXO Pay vouchers and SPEI transfers work at checkout, and how to choose a provider that supports both.

Why Mexico needs more than cards

Mexico is one of Latin America's largest online markets, but card penetration sits well below regional peers. A large share of adults either do not hold a bank account or prefer not to type card details into a website. That means a checkout built only around Visa and Mastercard will turn away a meaningful part of the market. Two local methods close that gap: OXXO, a cash voucher network run by the convenience-store chain of the same name, and SPEI, the interbank transfer system operated by Banco de Mexico. Together they let you reach cash-preferring shoppers and banked shoppers with one integration strategy. You should treat them as core methods, not extras.

  • Roughly half of Mexican ecommerce purchases still settle in cash or cash-like vouchers.
  • OXXO runs 20,000-plus stores open 24/7, including small towns other rails do not reach.
  • SPEI moves money between bank accounts in seconds and is free or very cheap for the payer.
  • Offering both lifts conversion far more than adding another card brand.

How OXXO Pay works for online stores

At checkout the shopper picks 'Pay at OXXO'. Your payment provider generates a voucher with a reference code and usually a barcode. The shopper prints it or saves it to a phone, then walks into any OXXO store and hands the cashier the code. The cashier scans it and takes the cash. Once the store confirms the payment, your provider notifies your site through a webhook and you can ship the order. With real-time integrations such as Conekta the confirmation can arrive the same day; without it, confirmation can take up to one business day. Vouchers normally expire after about three days, though you can often set a shorter or slightly longer window. Because the shopper already paid in cash, OXXO payments carry almost no chargeback risk for the merchant.

  • Shopper selects OXXO at checkout and gets a numeric or barcode reference.
  • Payment happens in person at any OXXO counter, in Mexican pesos.
  • You fulfil the order only after the payment notification arrives.
  • Per-voucher limits are usually around 10,000 MXN; confirm the exact cap with your provider.

How SPEI works at checkout

SPEI is the electronic interbank payment system developed and run by Banco de Mexico. At checkout the shopper chooses SPEI and is shown a CLABE account number, sometimes a short reference, and an amount. The shopper then opens their own banking app and pushes the money to your account. SPEI transfers between participating accounts usually complete in under 30 seconds, around the clock, including weekends. For ecommerce you normally rely on your payment provider to generate a unique reference per order so the incoming transfer can be matched automatically. SPEI is commonly used for higher-value purchases where a cash voucher cap would be a problem. Funds settle to a Mexican account, so a local entity or a provider that supplies one is usually part of the setup.

  • Shopper initiates the transfer from their own bank or mobile app.
  • Transfers are near-instant and operate 24/7.
  • You need a CLABE and order-matching reference to reconcile incoming payments.
  • SPEI is the backbone that CoDi QR payments also build on.

CoDi and the other rails you may meet

CoDi (Cobro Digital) is Banco de Mexico's QR-based merchant payment standard built on SPEI. It works in person: the shopper scans a QR code and pushes a SPEI transfer. Adoption at physical merchants has been slower than expected, but it matters for in-person or QR-driven selling. You will also hear about wallets such as Mercado Pago and BBVA Wallet, and about buy-now-pay-later options such as Kueski Pay that often ride on top of the OXXO or card network. For a first cross-border launch, OXXO plus SPEI is the highest-leverage pair; add CoDi or wallets once you see in-person or repeat-purchase demand.

  • CoDi is a SPEI-based QR standard, strongest for in-person checkout.
  • Mercado Pago and bank wallets are useful add-ons, not a substitute for OXXO or SPEI.
  • Kueski Pay and similar BNPL extend credit to cash-preferring buyers.

Choosing a payment provider for Mexico

You rarely connect to OXXO or SPEI directly. You integrate one payment service provider (PSP) or gateway that already supports both, such as Conekta, OpenPay, EBANX, PayU, Mercado Pago or a global provider with Mexican acquiring. Check that the provider supports OXXO with real-time confirmation, supports SPEI settlement to a local account, and offers plugins for your platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and similar). Ask how voucher expiry, payment reconciliation and refunds are handled, because these differ between providers. If you have no Mexican company, ask whether the provider can settle to you through a local entity or a cross-border model.

  • Confirm OXXO real-time confirmation, not next-day.
  • Confirm SPEI settlement currency and payout timeline.
  • Confirm platform plugins and webhook reliability.
  • Confirm whether you can onboard without a local entity.

Fees and what to confirm

Public pricing is only a first filter. Actual pricing changes with country, industry, volume, settlement currency, integration method and contract terms. Confirm against the provider's official pricing page or a written quote before you go live. For Mexico specifically, ask separately about the OXXO per-transaction fee, the SPEI or transfer fee, any fixed per-voucher fee, and whether the shopper or you carry the counter convenience charge. Card processing in Mexico is often 3 to 4 percent all-in, so a cash or transfer method can be cheaper and can win sales that a card-only checkout would lose. Read the provider's published Mexico pricing page and get the numbers in writing before you launch.

  • Ask for OXXO, SPEI and card fees as three separate lines.
  • Check voucher limits and expiry settings.
  • Check payout timeline and whether settlements are in MXN.

Questions merchants ask

Is OXXO Pay a card payment or a cash payment?

OXXO Pay is a cash payment. The shopper pays in physical cash at an OXXO store using a reference code or barcode your provider generates. No card is involved, and there is almost no chargeback risk for the merchant.

How long does SPEI take to reach my account?

A SPEI transfer between participating Mexican accounts is usually confirmed in under 30 seconds, every day including weekends. Your provider still needs to match the transfer to the order using the reference you issued.

Do I need a Mexican company to accept OXXO and SPEI?

To settle SPEI to a local account you typically need a Mexican entity or a provider that supplies one. Some cross-border PSPs let foreign merchants accept both methods and settle outward under a contract. Confirm the onboarding path with the provider before building checkout.

What happens if the OXXO voucher expires before payment?

The shopper can no longer use that voucher. You generate a new voucher with a new reference, often with a fresh expiry window. Set the expiry long enough for your product (commonly one to three days) so legitimate shoppers are not cut off.

Public sources