“Can BNPL serve as the on-ramp to formal credit and full-stack financial services for Mexico's underbanked majority?”
Founded in 2020 as an omnichannel BNPL platform built specifically for Mexico's largely cash-and-underbanked retail market, where 95% of purchases happen offline and most consumers lack credit cards. Aplazo issues a virtual card that lets users pay in five fixed installments at both online and offline merchants, positioning BNPL as a first formal credit product (70–80% of new users get their first credit through Aplazo) rather than a Klarna-style discretionary spending tool. The company is gradually moving from single-product BNPL toward a broader financial-access platform for Mexican consumers.