LatAm List – Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital payment platform, and Bancolombia, a Colombian bank, have signed a partnership to help small businesses make sales online to participate in the growing e-commerce market in Colombia.
Mercado Pago observed a 156% increase in its transactions during last year’s Black Friday because of a growing trust in online shopping. Bancolombia has more than 1.4 million businesses among its clients, most of which do not sell through e-commerce. This partnership would provide customers with the security of working with a trusted bank, and the simplicity of being able to pay online through Whatsapp or other platforms.
“There are companies that haven’t yet made the switch to digital transactions. With this alliance, making a payment will be as easy as sharing a link through a chat or social media. We made this decision after seeing a growth in sales from mobile devices,” says Andrés Bernal, Head Manager at Mercado Pago in Colombia.
MercadoPago will be responsible for collecting the funds and paying each of the vendors, using their e-commerce tools.
“E-commerce is a basic need among consumers and businesses. At Bancolombia we aren’t experts in e-commerce, we’re an industry facilitator. Mercado Libre gives us the know-how, tech development and access to those businesses,” says Liliana Vásquez, Vice President of the Strategic Unit of Payments at Bancolombia.
Read more on Dinero.