Mercado Pago launches POS terminal, Point Plus for SMEs

Contxto – It was only a matter of time before Latin America’s biggest e-commerce marketplace updated its POS credit card machine.

Last Tuesday (14), Mercado Libre’s fintech arm, Mercado Pago, presented “Point Plus” a payment terminal for businesses.

This device has all the features you’d find on a typical terminal: Receipt printing and a reader that accepts all credit and debit cards. It also completes payments via QR code and includes a 3G data plan.

However, it differs from its previous model “Point” as well as other fintechs’ solutions in that it doesn’t require a vendor to have a smartphone at hand to operate it, just the terminal. It will initially cost ARS$3,299 (~US$46).

To sweeten the deal, the company said that vendors who use the device for over three months become eligible for a loan.

See what it just did there? It’s using one product to lead customers into its lending solutions. 

But that’s not all the marketplace giant has been up to.

[wd_hustle id=”InArticleOptin” type=”embedded”/]

Mercado Libre and ShipStation

Last Wednesday (15) it also announced a partnership with ShipStation, a developer of shipping software, from the United States.

Correspondingly, vendors on ShipStation will benefit from scaling and soft-landing into the Latam market via Mercado Libre. For the Austin-based business, it wasn’t just about buddying up with the right company but not missing out on an emerging market opportunity.

“This partnership will give merchants on the ShipStation platform quick and seamless access to one of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce regions,” said Krish Iyer Head of Industry Relations at ShipStation.

• Related article: Mercado Libre’s stock nearly doubled its value thanks to Covid-19

What’s next for Mercado Libre?

At least for now, the e-commerce giant will continue to develop its operational network throughout the region. Evidence of this is the launch of warehouses and other logistics hubs throughout Latin America.

Rightly so, e-commerce demand may be rising. But if it doesn’t have the infrastructure to respond and provide great customer experience, it will all be for naught.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Argentina!

-ML