In today’s Latin Interactive World, Portada interviews Javier Rincón (photo), Partner and Director of PagoFacil.net, a company that provides e-commerce services for SMEs.
At a Glance:
Company: PagoFacil.net
Business: Online payment systems and other services for e-commerce sites
Offices: Mexico City
Languages: Spanish
Investors: Ingenia Group
Employees: 6
The growth of electronic commerce is a constant in all countries, yet the ease with which a company can receive payments online is not always the same in each country.
Difficulties such as obtaining an online merchant account or a dedicated server with a fixed IP address to handle credit card data often prevents some businesses from fully taking advantage of this new form of commerce.
According to Javier Rincón, Director of PagoFacil.net, entering the e-commerce arena can cost a company up to 400,000 pesos. "Setting up shop from scratch can cost between 80,000 to 90,000 pesos, plus costs to establish a payment system, guarantees, servers, IP's, etc. Consolidating a 400,000-peso project is a very difficult proposition for a medium-sized company."
Fortunately, PagoFacil.net is providing a service that makes it easy. Basically, it is a 4-step process: the business registers on the site, provides the necessary documentation (RFC, incorporation papers if it is a company, CLABE account, etc.), signs the contract, and proceeds to sell its products or services.
PagoFacil.net charges 2,000 pesos upfront for its service, plus 5% of each future transaction, which is similar to the fee banks charge.
Although the company was launched only a little over a year ago, it has already signed agreements with major credit card brands (American Express, MasterCard and VISA), is working with Banorte and Santander, and has obtained the Seal of Trust from the Mexican Internet Association (AMIPCI).
Portada: How many clients do you currently have?
Javier Rincón: "Right now, we have 9 clients. All of them are SMEs. We're getting about 9 or 10 daily transactions."
Portada: What are your year-end expectations, as well as for 2012?
Javier Rincón: "For the remainder of this year, we believe the last quarter will be very important for business because of the Christmas season, so we anticipate a significant increase in the number of transactions… For the next year, if we get nine new customers, we will be able to at least triple our transaction figures."
Portada: What are your promotion tactics?
Javier Rincón: "Right now our promotion is mainly by word of mouth, but we've also done some search engine campaigns and a bit of public relations."
Portada: What do you consider your greatest achievement so far?
Javier Rincón: "One of our main achievements is that we are already providing businesses with a complete solution for online payments; these businesses already have an alternative to using a bank or going to a nephew who develops websites."
PagoFacil.net is still new to the Mexican startup market, yet has a promising future in one of the fastest growing e-commerce countries in the region.
Javier Rincón is an industrial engineer and a graduate of Universidad Iberoamericana. He has 8 years of experience in the Internet industry and new business development. Rincón is currently Managing Partner of PagoFacil.net.
