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MercadoLibre is <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/mercadolibre-stock-price-surges-on-wall-street-after-earnings" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">one of the largest companies in Latin America</a>. It runs two businesses. Mercado Libre is the region’s largest online marketplace, and Mercado Pago is its fintech arm.
Osvaldo Gimenez has been Mercado Pago’s president since 2020 and ran its operations from 2004. He joined TheStreet <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Roundtable</a> at Money20/20 in Las Vegas (Oct. 18-21) to share where the fintech arm is growing most today.
Mercado Pago was originally built to process payments for the marketplace. Gimenez says that is now a small part of its business.
<blockquote>
 “The vast majority is outside of Mercado Libre,” he said.
</blockquote>
The numbers back him. Mercado Pago processed <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099590/000109959026000021/meli-20260805xex991.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$101 billion in total payment volume in Q2 2026</a>, up 56% from a year earlier and its first quarter above $100 billion. Merchant acquiring, payments processed for businesses rather than on the marketplace itself, reached $64.1 billion, up 44% in dollar terms.
Parent company MercadoLibre’s revenue <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099590/000109959026000021/meli-20260805xex991.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">passed $10 billion for the first time</a> in the quarter, up 50% from a year earlier, while net income fell 11% to $466 million.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/babylon-cofounder-rising-rates-will-wake-idle-bitcoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Babylon cofounder: rising rates will wake idle Bitcoin</a>
<h2 id="built-in-stores-not-online">Built in stores, not online</h2>
Gimenez says most of that outside volume is being driven by sales in physical stores. Mercado Pago reached <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099590/000109959026000021/meli-20260805xex991.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">1.4 million active devices in Mexico</a>, which the company says equals all of the country’s incumbent banks combined.
Fintech monthly active users <a href="https://news.mercadolibre.com/en/financial-results-second-quarter-2026" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">rose 30% to 88 million in the quarter</a>, with Brazil up 38% and Mexico up 45%, both accelerating versus their 2025 pace.
<h2 id="the-yield-and-credit-engines">The yield and credit engines</h2>
Mercado Pago’s assets under management <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099590/000109959026000021/meli-20260805xex991.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reached $23 billion in Q2, up 68% from a year earlier</a>, and the average user now holds $264 on the platform, up 29%. Gimenez says users come for yields that are always spendable.
In Brazil, <a href="https://www.mercadopago.com.br/blog/rendimento-conta-mercado-pago" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">balances earn up to 105% of the CDI benchmark</a> and savings pots earn up to 120%, according to the company. In Mexico, it advertises returns of <a href="https://www.mercadopago.com.mx/ayuda/38300" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">up to 13% a year</a>.
The credit portfolio <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099590/000109959026000021/meli-20260805xex991.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">grew 75% to more than $16 billion</a>, while the 15-to-90-day nonperforming loan ratio stood at 7%.
<blockquote>
 “Many, many millions of people did not have access to credit,” Gimenez said. “So in many cases we have to take risks.”
</blockquote>
<h2 id="the-licenses-come-next">The licenses come next</h2>
Gimenez says Mercado Pago is pursuing banking licenses in multiple jurisdictions, including Argentina and Mexico. A full license would let it receive payroll deposits, which only banks can do.
In Argentina, the company today is regulated as a payment service provider. That status lets it hold user funds but not lend them out. Mercado Pago <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-28/fintech-mercado-pago-will-apply-for-argentina-banking-license" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said in May 2025 it would apply</a> for a full banking license. With it, Mercado Pago could lend customer deposits instead of raising funding in capital markets at higher rates.
Juan Curutchet, a director of Argentina’s central bank, <a href="https://www.infobae.com/economia/2026/09/24/el-banco-central-confirmo-que-mercado-libre-tendra-licencia-para-operar-como-banco-antes-de-fin-de-ano/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said in September</a> the license would be approved before year-end. It would be the country’s first bank license granted from scratch in <a href="https://www.diariobitcoin.com/argentina/mercado-pago-y-revolut-apuntan-a-obtener-licencias-bancarias-en-argentina-antes-de-2027/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">more than six years</a>. Argentine outlet iproup <a href="https://www.iproup.com/finanzas/72345-el-banco-de-mercado-pago-ya-tiene-nombre-oficial-mercado-pago-biz" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reported in October</a> that the company has secured the trademark Mercado Pago Biz, the expected name for the bank.
In Mexico, Mercado Pago operates as an electronic payments institution. In September 2024 it <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/mercadolibres-fintech-arm-applies-banking-license-mexico-2024-09-25/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">applied to become a multiple banking institution</a>, Mexico’s full commercial banking charter.
That would let it offer savings and checking accounts, CDs, commercial loans and mortgages. The application is still pending, and the company has <a href="https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/sectorfinanciero/mercado-pago-creemos-vez-cerca-obtener-licencia-bancaria-20260309-803456.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said it believes</a> it is getting closer.
Investors have taken notice. <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/michael-burry-buys-beaten-down-fintech-stock-after-earnings" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Michael Burry bought MELI shares</a> after the stock fell on Q1 earnings, pointing to its credit buildout.
The marketplace still feeds Mercado Pago its users, but the money increasingly moves everywhere else.
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Mercado Pago processes most payments outside Mercado Libre

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