How Much Does OXXO Pay Cost?

OXXO Pay merchant costs are set by the payment service provider (PSP). This is typically a per-transaction fee paid for each OXXO payment accepted. The payment process and the exact rate for accepting payments will depend on the merchant’s provider agreement, transaction volume, and settlement currency.

Additionally, the customer may pay a separate, small handling fee set by OXXO when settling the voucher in-store.

What makes up OXXO Pay fees?

The fees for OXXO payments comprise four components that are charged by the different parties involved.  Incorporating OXXO Pay into the checkout requires understanding these costs to manage margins effectively.

Who charges the merchant fee on OXXO payments?

The transaction fee for offering OXXO Pay and processing these online payments is charged by the PSP and not by OXXO.

Since OXXO operates a physical store network where customers pay for online purchases, utility bills, and essential services in cash, it may seem like the natural party to bill the merchant. However, OXXO only handles cash collection and voucher verification at the store level. The commercial relationship for processing OXXO payments rests entirely with whichever payment gateway or processor integrated OXXO Pay into the merchant’s checkout page.

The transaction fee is dependent on a merchant’s standard processing agreement with their provider and can vary by transaction volume, merchant category, and settlement arrangement. 

Do customers pay a fee to pay in cash at an OXXO store?

During online shopping checkout, customers choose OXXO Pay as their preferred payment method. The system generates a payment voucher with a unique barcode and a reference number, which the customer presents at their nearest OXXO store to pay in cash. Once paid, the customer receives a printed receipt as proof of the transaction.

At the till, OXXO adds a small handling fee to the amount printed on the voucher. This charge is between OXXO and the customer and does not affect the merchant’s transaction fee.

Are there setup or monthly fees to accept OXXO Pay?

The voucher-based payment method doesn’t come with a setup or monthly fee. However, the provider a merchant chooses to work with may apply account-level fees, regardless of which payment methods are enabled. It’s worth checking the provider agreement to get a complete breakdown of the charges.

How do currency and FX affect what you pay?

Though over 20,000 OXXO convenience stores are spread across Latin America, OXXO Pay, as a payment method, is only available in Mexico. Consequently, all fund transfers are processed in Mexican pesos.

International businesses selling to the Mexican market may require settlement in a different currency. In such cases, a conversion cost applies on top of the transaction fee, which is set by the provider.

Do you have to settle in MXN?

Fund transfers using OXXO Pay are always processed in MXN. Whether a merchant can settle in a different currency depends on their provider and, in some cases, whether they hold a local entity in Mexico.

Opting for local settlements in MXN eliminates OXXO Pay conversion fees.

How do OXXO Pay fees compare with cards and bank transfers?

Credit or debit card payments generally carry different layers of costs, including scheme fees, interchange fees and an acquirer margin. Additionally, the merchant bears the risk of a chargeback, which occurs when the cardholder disputes an unrecognised transaction. On the other hand, bank transfers have a simple fee structure where merchants typically pay a single fee per transaction.

However, these trusted payment methods require a bank account, limiting financial inclusion for 51% of Mexican consumers who lack access to banking services and often prefer cash. OXXO Pay was designed to bridge this gap, blending digital convenience with traditional methods to enable the unbanked population to shop online.

By supporting OXXO Pay, businesses can access a broader customer base of unbanked and cash-preferring Mexican customers aged 18-35 in the middle-to-lower-middle-income brackets. What makes OXXO Pay attractive to these users is the familiarity of the local convenience store network.

OXXO Pay comes with a single per-transaction fee set by the PSP. Since these digital transactions are completed via a cash-based payment method, transactions are final once paid. Consumers can’t dispute a transaction, and consequently, there’s no chargeback mechanism.

However, OXXO Pay can be more operationally intensive than traditional banking services in situations such as a voucher expiring without settlement, a customer requesting a refund, or recurring payments.

Does OXXO Pay reduce chargeback risk costs?

Chargeback risk and fraud risk associated with card disputes don’t apply to cash payments, so there are no chargeback fees or representment costs for OXXO Pay cash transactions.

However, instead of chargebacks, the cost shows up as vouchers that are generated but never paid, and as the reconciliation work of matching each completed cash payment back to the right order.

What else affects the cost of a cash-based payment method?

The transaction fee covers only part of the day-to-day costs of running a cash-based payment method.

Since the customer pays later, at a physical till rather than at checkout, an order can sit unfulfilled for several days while the merchant waits for payment confirmation. The voucher itself expires within three to seven business days (depending on the merchant configuration), and that window can tie up inventory.

Once the customer pays, confirmation isn’t instantaneous and can take around one business day. The payment status only updates once the cash has been handed over, so matching each payment to its order requires a level of reconciliation effort that a card or bank transfer payment simply doesn’t.

How do unpaid vouchers affect your costs?

An unpaid voucher doesn’t incur a transaction fee. However, it costs operational time, as the order has to be held open for as long as the voucher remains valid, then released once it lapses unpaid.

Not every voucher a checkout generates ends up being paid in store. Some customers don’t make it to an OXXO store before the voucher expires, and the gap between when vouchers are issued and when they are settled should be planned for.

What do refunds cost?

Refund handling for cash payments is provider-specific and may require manual processing rather than automatic reversals.

Unlike card payments, OXXO payments are made in cash and not moved electronically. For this reason, they can’t be automatically reversed to the customer through the OXXO rail. 

If a refund is requested, it generally has to be arranged via a separate bank transfer to the customer. This manual handling carries its own cost and turnaround time.

What does average transaction size mean for your fees?

Ticket size matters more for OXXO Pay than for cards, because a flat customer-side handling fee and a percentage-based merchant fee behave differently as the basket size shrinks. The flat fee eats up a much bigger share of a small purchase than a large one, while the percentage fee scales with the order value regardless of ticket size.

Additionally, vouchers generally need to be for at least 10 MXN and are capped at 10,000 MXN. Typical OXXO Pay transactions average 500 to 1,000 MXN, but any business with a higher average order value should check OXXO Pay’s upper limit against its own numbers before treating the popular payment method as a fit across the whole catalogue.

How to get exact OXXO Pay fees

Fees for OXXO Pay are agreed upon per merchant and are based on volume, category, and settlement factors.

Unlimit supports OXXO Pay among other popular payment methods in Mexico. Merchants deciding whether to accept OXXO Pay alongside other payment options can visit Unlimit’s contacts page and request a quote.