The
COVID-19 pandemic transformed the lives of millions of people around the world.
Lockdowns forced many citizens to stay at home, and as a result, e-commerce
surged. Electronic sales in Latin America increased by 30% between 2020 and
2021, according to data from Statista.
One of the
challenges arising from online payments is managing the returns that occur.
During periods of high demand, returned purchases can reach 41%. This means
that companies have to carry out more administrative tasks and, depending on
the payment method, refunds may be delayed. Amid the pandemic and the growing
use of digital money, Franco Zurita (Peru, 34 years old) developed Monnet
Payments to help businesses manage these returns.
His payment
platform allows companies to issue refunds and process payments more quickly to
improve efficiency, a solution that went beyond the immediate needs of the
pandemic, as e-commerce continued to grow. Statista projects that online
purchases will double by 2028 in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. In Peru, growth
is expected to reach 66% by that date, although annual increases of 15% are
already being recorded compared to 2023, according to the Lima Chamber of
Commerce (Peru).
This
graduate in International Business explains the importance of his platform, “What
usually happened was that, if someone made a purchase with a credit card and
requested a refund, it could be returned to the card within a day. However,
when it was a purchase made with a debit card or via bank transfer, that refund
could take up to 20 days, creating an operational burden for the companies that
had to manage these returns and resulting in a very poor experience for the
customer who made the purchase.”
This
platform offers two solutions. The first is payouts: it allows companies to
make transfers to their users, with wide banking coverage throughout Latin
America and in local currency. It is a fully automated service and is processed
through an application programming interface (API) in under 15 minutes,
ensuring fast and efficient transactions.
Additionally,
there are payins: a solution that allows customers to accept payments through
major credit or debit card brands and alternative payment methods such as cash,
digital wallets, and bank transfers.
Zurita was
working at another company when he saw a gap in the market for a solution like
this. He decided to create a business case to present internally at that
company and propose its development. “Surprisingly,
the answer was yes, it could be done. But they wanted to wait two years,
because their priorities were elsewhere,” he recalls.
At that
point, he decided to pursue entrepreneurship and left his position to launch
what is now Monnet Payments. Today, that former company is one of his clients. Up to $2.6
billion USD (approximately €2.3 billion) have been processed through the
platform’s two solutions, which generated $23 million USD (approximately €20.5
million) in revenue in 2023. Each day, an average of 67,000 transactions are
processed, and the platform continues to deliver on its original strength: 70%
of the transaction volume comes from business-to-customer (B2C) payments.
The
platform is already operating in eight Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. It will soon
expand to Brazil, Bolivia, and other Central American countries. “We are
considering focusing our efforts on growing our global sales team to better
serve international clients who need a partner in Latin America, where we’ve
seen a great opportunity. We would also like to consolidate our leadership in
Latin America and start thinking about expanding to another continent,” says
Franco Zurita.
With over
10 years of experience in entrepreneurship and several awards to his
name, including being listed on Forbes’ Top 100 Startups in Peru, Zurita is now
one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 selected by MIT Technology Review in Spanish.
