ACI dLocal partnership opens Brazil and Mexico payment rails

ACI Worldwide and dLocal announced a strategic partnership that gives global merchants access to local payment methods in Brazil and Mexico through the ACI Payments Orchestration Platform. The ACI dLocal partnership is aimed at reducing the integration work merchants face when expanding into Latin America, where non-card payment options account for a large share of online commerce, according to the companies.

ACI Worldwide, listed on Nasdaq under the ticker ACIW, and dLocal, listed under DLO, said merchants can start processing transactions now using local payment options in the two markets. The companies named Pix, PicPay, Mercado Pago and NuPay in Brazil, as well as Mercado Pago, OXXO and SPEI in Mexico.

The arrangement brings dLocal’s regional payment network into ACI’s cloud-based orchestration platform. ACI said enterprise merchants and fintech partners will be able to enter the two markets through a single connection while retaining control over how payments are managed and routed.

What does the ACI dLocal partnership cover?

The initial rollout covers Brazil and Mexico, with Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru planned for a later phase, according to the companies. Merchants using ACI’s platform will be able to offer locally used payment instruments without building separate direct connections to each scheme or provider.

Payment orchestration is the use of a central technology layer to connect a merchant to multiple payment methods, acquirers and markets. It can route transactions across providers, apply fraud controls and give merchants real-time information on payment performance.

ACI describes its Payments Orchestration Platform as cloud-based and acquirer-agnostic, meaning it is designed to work across different acquiring banks and processors rather than tying merchants to one provider. The company said the platform includes intelligent routing, fraud prevention and payments intelligence.

Why Latin American payment methods matter for merchants

Latin America has more than 638 million consumers, internet penetration above 75% and smartphone adoption above 80%, according to figures cited by ACI and dLocal. The companies said payment preferences differ sharply by country, making local acceptance a factor in conversion and reach.

Alternative payment methods, including digital wallets, real-time bank transfers and instant payment schemes, represent about 50% of online transactions across the region, according to the companies. In Brazil, the Pix instant payment system has more than 170 million users, while account-to-account transfers are significant in e-commerce in markets such as Colombia, they said.

For merchants, the commercial issue is that card-only acceptance may miss consumers who prefer domestic wallets, cash-linked services or bank-transfer systems. The companies said their partnership is intended to let merchants offer those options while managing fraud, routing and reporting from ACI’s existing infrastructure.

What the companies said

Vlademir Santos, head of sales Brazil at ACI Worldwide, said merchants expanding into Latin America must manage greater payment complexity while preserving performance, flexibility and control. He said the dLocal partnership lets merchants access payment methods that consumers use in each market while continuing to orchestrate payments on their own terms.

Horacio Raviolo, head of commercial partnerships at dLocal, said payments are a gateway to Latin America’s digital economy and require local expertise as well as technical connectivity. He said combining dLocal’s regional coverage with ACI’s orchestration infrastructure gives merchants local reach and global control.

ACI also cited its own research showing that 96% of merchants using multiple acquirers report higher revenue, while nearly two-thirds identify payment flexibility as a key driver of growth. The companies did not disclose financial terms for the partnership.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.