Tapi Raises $22 Million to Expand Its Digital Payment Services in Mexico

Argentina-based payment processor Tapi has successfully raised $22 million in a Series A funding round, aiming to fuel its expansion into the Mexican market. The company's co-founder and CEO, Tomas Mindlin, discussed these plans during an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday, July 12.

Tapi, which processes payments for major Latin American consumer platforms such as Mercado Pago and the cryptocurrency exchange Lemon, projects it will handle around $400 million in payments this year across the five countries where it operates. This figure represents a significant increase, being four times the amount processed last year. The company's rapid growth trajectory underscores its strategic importance in the region's burgeoning digital payment landscape.

In 2022, Tapi raised $9 million in a seed funding round. Mindlin expressed strong confidence in Mexico's potential, anticipating it to be the company’s fastest-growing market over the next two years. He emphasized the critical role of FinTechs in driving financial inclusion and transforming cash transactions into digital payments in Mexico. “We’re going to be working with the FinTechs that are going to grow the most, continue to do the most financial inclusion and transform cash to digital payments, so Mexico is very important for us,” Mindlin noted. He added, “I’d say in a year from now we’ll have 80% of the banked population in Mexico working with our infrastructure.”

Despite the company's expanding footprint, Mindlin declined to comment on Tapi's valuation. He revealed that the company employs about 70 people, primarily based in Argentina. The total payment volume is projected to grow fivefold by the end of the year, reaching 10 million transactions per month, reflecting the increasing adoption of digital payment solutions in the region.

The origin of the company's name, Tapi, is rooted in Mindlin’s first startup project, a digital wallet called TAP, combined with API (application programming interface), the technology underpinning Tapi's current payment processing system. This combination reflects the company's focus on leveraging advanced technology to facilitate seamless payment experiences.

In the broader context of digital payments, PYMNTS examined the landscape in Mexico as part of the “2024 Global Digital Shopping Index,” a series of reports commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions. These reports explore how various digital features resonate globally. The report found that nearly half of consumers in Mexico shop in-store without using any digital shopping features. This trend is not due to consumer preference but rather a lack of available digital features from merchants. According to the report, 62% of consumers are looking for digital features that are not yet available in Mexico.

The desire for digital shopping features among Mexican consumers is driven by the potential for cost savings and improved in-store experiences. This finding aligns with PYMNTS Intelligence's observations of consumer behavior in other regions such as Brazil, the UK, and the US. Consumers in these markets also enjoy enhancing their brick-and-mortar shopping experiences with digital features, a trend known as Click-and-Mortar™ shopping.

Tapi's ambitious expansion plans in Mexico highlight the significant potential for growth in the digital payments sector. By partnering with leading FinTechs and focusing on financial inclusion, Tapi is poised to play a pivotal role in transforming the financial landscape in Mexico and beyond. The company's efforts to integrate advanced digital payment solutions promise to provide Mexican consumers with the digital features they seek, ultimately enhancing their overall shopping experiences and driving the adoption of digital transactions across the region.