American Express Interested in Mexican Startups
American Express, of America’s largest major credit card and financial services companies, is ramping up its financial technology investments south of the border.
American Express has backed a rising star in the Mexican fintech scene known as Clip. The startup was founded by former Paypal employees and recently finished a significant capital raising. Mexico has received particular attention as of late in the fintech scene as American companies continue their expansion into Mexico.
Clip was founded in 2013 by Adolfo Babatz and Vilash Poovala, two former PayPal employees. The service is similar to its American counterpart square, in that it allows merchants to accept credit card and online payments through a standardized system.
Like Square, Clip offers a point of sale terminal for merchants to accept payments in a number of ways. Also like other fintech startups, Clip offers competitive fees and rates for its clients by utilizing innovative online and financial services.
American Express showed interested in Clip after the Mexican startup completed an $8 million Series A funding round, one of the country’s largest. American Express already dominates the payment systems industry in Mexico, with up to 30 percent of payment volumes passing through it.
Clip projects up to 11 million businesses that could potentially utilize its services, but as Mexico’s economy continues to climb, that number of potential merchants should increase significantly.