Kushki

Service Overview

Kushki is a regional non-bank acquirer in Latin America, and its name is the Kichwa word for money. Its trajectory is worth noting: it started as a payment gateway, then upgraded to a regional acquirer, and now processes transactions end to end with a direct connection to Visa and Mastercard rather than passing transactions into someone else's acquiring system. Operating entities include Kushki Operadora S.A. in Chile, and the co-founders are Aron Schwarzkopf (CEO) and Sebastian Castro (President).

Offices and coverage are concentrated in Latin America: Mexico City (Torre Reforma), Guadalajara, Santiago, Bogota, Lima and Quito, plus a Miami office serving cross-border business. The product set has four blocks: PayIns for collection, PayOuts for disbursement, Card-Present Payments for in-person acceptance and Security for protection and risk. Integration options include API, JS Library, Payment Button, e-commerce plugins, Kajita (a payment form component), Smartlink (payment links) and in-person acceptance.

On compliance and security it holds PCI DSS, AWS partner and ICONTEC certifications, runs a security architecture of 4 or more layers, and holds the licences required for higher-risk industries. The public client list is a typical Latin American mix: Rappi, BetPlay, Terpel, PayJoy, Minsa, Comex, Betshop, Rushbet, Healthatom, Homie, Justo and Mercat.

The core judgement: Kushki occupies an unusual position. It is neither a pure gateway nor a pure acquirer but a regional acquirer that does both. That means it connects directly to the card schemes and owns authorisation and chargeback flow, so local approval rates and dispute handling are more controllable than with an aggregator that passes the transaction on. The cost is that it operates only in a handful of Latin American countries; the business must have an entity and a collection need in those markets, otherwise the capability is unusable. Tax number and invoicing requirements also differ across the region, so Kushki solves whether you can sell, not how tax and invoicing should be handled compliantly.

Key Strengths

• Local acquiring status gives controllable approval rates: because it connects directly to Visa and Mastercard and processes end to end, authorisation, clearing and chargebacks all sit in one system, making local card approval rates and dispute handling more controllable than with an aggregator that routes the transaction onward.
• 4 product blocks covering both directions of money: PayIns for collection, PayOuts for disbursement, Card-Present for in-person acceptance and Security for risk. For businesses that both collect and pay in one market, the account structure and reconciliation model stay unified.
• 6 integration forms fitting different teams: from pure API to the Kajita form component, Payment Button and Smartlink payment links, so a team with limited engineering capacity can still go live without building a checkout first.
• Capacity for higher-risk industries: it holds the licences required for higher-risk business and runs a security architecture of 4 or more layers. Categories such as gambling and consumer finance that general acquirers readily decline have a realistic path in Latin America.
• The client base proves local fit: clients such as Rappi, Terpel, PayJoy and Betshop span delivery, retail, consumer finance and betting, indicating that local instalments, cash and local method combinations have been refined in practice.
• One back office across online and in-person: Card-Present and PayIns run in parallel, so a local business with shops and an online store does not split refunds and reconciliation into two processes.

Product Ecosystem

PayIns

The core collection product offering 6 integration forms and supporting both an aggregator and a gateway model. Under the aggregator model Kushki carries more acquiring responsibility; under the gateway model the merchant keeps an existing acquiring relationship. The choice determines onboarding conditions and liability allocation.

PayOuts

Disbursement to suppliers, partners and staff. Payout pain in Latin America differs from collection — local transfer and cash-out availability varies widely — so completing both directions on one platform substantially lowers reconciliation cost.

Card-Present Payments

Card acceptance and terminals for physical stores. In Latin American retail and food service, in-person volume often exceeds online, and this block decides whether Kushki can be a primary provider rather than a supplementary rail.

Security

A security architecture of 4 or more layers spanning transaction encryption, risk rules, fraud monitoring and compliance audit, backed by the licences required for higher-risk industries. This layer is what allows it to serve betting and consumer finance clients.

Integrations

API, JS Library, Payment Button, e-commerce plugins, the Kajita payment form component, Smartlink payment links and in-person terminal acceptance. A team can start from the fastest-to-launch payment link and migrate to a self-built checkout over time.

Limitations

• Mainland China entities cannot onboard directly: the service targets locally registered Latin American entities with a local entity, tax number and local bank account. A China-based company targeting Latin America usually needs to establish a local company first or process through a partner's name.
• Limited country coverage: operations run only in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and a few other markets, so the local acquiring capability is unavailable elsewhere. Pan-regional Latin America projects usually need several providers combined.
• Methods bounded by regulation and the official list: which local methods and currencies can be accepted is set by each country's regulation and official list, cannot be enabled as one package across markets, and some methods exist in only one country.
• Settlement and chargeback liability split per country: settlement timing, reserves and chargeback responsibility are agreed by country contract and entity standing, and higher chargeback verticals trigger reserves and delayed settlement, so cash-flow planning must account for those conditions early.
• Language and local support cost: documentation, dashboards and support run mainly in Spanish and English with no Chinese coverage, so commercial contact and issue handling carry language and time-zone cost, and localised material often has to be translated in-house.
• Collection only, not tax or invoicing: tax number and invoicing rules differ across the region (CPF/CNPJ in Brazil, RFC in Mexico and so on). Kushki solves whether you can sell, not how to be compliant on tax and invoicing; that requires a local accountant and invoicing service.

Use Cases

• Local Latin American e-commerce (★★★★★): businesses with a local entity in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru or Ecuador selling to local consumers, where the approval-rate benefit of local acquiring status pays off most directly.
• Latin American betting and consumer finance (★★★★☆): higher-risk verticals are often restricted at general acquirers, while Kushki holds the corresponding licences and security architecture, making it one realistic option.
• Chain retail and food service card-present (★★★★☆): businesses with a high share of in-person volume needing one reconciliation across channels benefit directly from Card-Present and PayIns sharing a back office.
• Platform businesses collecting and paying out (★★★☆☆): businesses that collect from consumers and pay suppliers or couriers close the loop across PayIns and PayOuts on one platform, simplifying reconciliation.
• China-based teams entering Latin America (★★☆☆☆): onboarding requires a local Latin American entity, so company registration, tax number and local bank account must come first. The upfront investment suits teams that already have an entity in the region.
• Mainland China operations (☆☆☆☆☆): Kushki does not acquire in mainland China, where domestic acquiring must be performed by a licensed institution. This path is entirely unusable.
• One-stop pan-regional Latin American acquiring (★☆☆☆☆): the worst fit. Country coverage is limited, multi-country business requires several providers, and it cannot be treated as a region-wide solution.

Pricing

The table lists billing items and pricing basis only. Kushki does not publish a unified rate, and quotes must be confirmed by country, vertical, volume and payment-method mix. Instalment cost and local acquiring cost vary widely across Latin America, so no single percentage represents actual cost; the contract governs.

FAQ

• Is Kushki a gateway or an acquirer?
  Both. It started as a gateway and is now a regional acquirer that processes end to end and connects directly to Visa and Mastercard. The practical difference is that it owns authorisation and chargeback flow, so local approval rates and dispute handling are more controllable than with an aggregator that passes the transaction on.

• Can I onboard without a Latin American company?
  Usually not. Onboarding targets locally registered entities and requires a tax number and local bank account. Teams outside the region either establish a company in the target country or process indirectly through a local partner; an overseas entity alone is not enough.

• Which countries are supported?
  Mainly Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, with offices also in Guadalajara and Miami. The exact country and payment-method list should be confirmed against the current official documentation and with the commercial team, and coverage gaps must be checked in advance for pan-regional plans.

• Can it support higher-risk verticals such as betting or consumer finance?
  It can be assessed. Kushki holds the licences required for higher-risk industries, runs a security architecture of 4 or more layers, and counts betting and consumer finance businesses among its public clients. Onboarding still reviews entity standing, country and vertical individually, and reserve and settlement terms tighten accordingly.

• What does it cost?
  No unified rate is published. Cost is driven by scheme interchange, local acquiring cost, industry risk level, instalment terms and cross-border share, must be negotiated per country, and is governed by the contract. Instalment cost in Latin America in particular must be modelled separately.

Source: original 16IDC content. Product capabilities, supported countries and fee definitions follow the official documentation and your contract.