dLocal launches new payment platform to boost African e-commerce transactions

dLocal has announced the launch of a new all-in-one payment solution to manage global platform payments in one place.

Known as dLocal for Platforms, the end-to-end payment solution will serve marketplaces, on-demand services, and any other platform business models.

Harsh banking policies and limited foreign exchange in African markets make it difficult for locals to access international products. The lack of local currency options on some platforms exacerbates the issue, leaving African consumers isolated from the global community.

“We understand that the payment system in Africa is different and more fragmented,” said Moses Sule, Head of Growth, Africa at dLocal.

“This is why we have dedicated resources to solidify our local footprint and workforce on-ground. Because of our understanding of the terrain, we know the important payment methods that the people in the region want to pay with, and we integrate those. We’ve built a playbook.”

The new solution allows the platform to onboard sellers, service providers, or contractors onto the platform itself, while dLocal has them verified before paying out. It also enables the platform to accept payments on behalf of its users, split the payments between one or more users, deduct costs as needed, and hold funds until payout. Funds can be moved within the platform to debit or credit funds.

In addition to facilitating international purchases for local consumers, dLocal’s services also enable Africans in the diaspora to send money back home with ease. Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa grew by 5% to $53 billion last year, making it a significant source of international financing.

“We are connecting Africa to the global economy,” Moses added. “We become the payment option for them, whether in terms of receiving remittances from the diaspora into Africa or in terms of Africans being able to spend internationally.”

dLocal for Platforms, initially soft-launched to a small group of customers, is a scalable, secure, and seamless solution to any platform business model operating in emerging markets. It provides the fastest and easiest way to  accept payments and make payouts to sub-accounts within the same platform.

Of particular significance, dLocal for Platforms utilizes one single API integration to allow users to pay in local currency as well as distribute and split payments to any number of users, while automatically setting fees or commissions before paying out the final amount. dLocal for Platforms offers a complete suite to manage the platform’s payments from one place, including consolidated reporting, refund and chargeback management.

“We have started a promising journey in Argentina. dLocal brings a flexible product and a willingness to continue developing features our merchants need. This flexibility can also be a lever to potentially expand our partnership to other markets such as Mexico and Brazil”, said Rodrigo Rivera, CSO of Nuvemshop, the leading e-commerce platform in Latin America that powers more than 108,000 brands looking to launch, develop, and promote their own online businesses.

Federico Mazzoli, VP Product at dLocal, explained that the new solution, designed to overcome the complex process of receiving and distributing payments from different countries, to different users, will be particularly beneficial for online marketplaces, ride-sharing companies, eCommerce on social media platforms and social media ads.

“We developed dLocal for Platforms as a white-label payment solution,” said Federico Mazzoli of dLocal. “No need to connect to hundreds of different processors and way less hassle when making payments to other merchants or sellers. We focused on this long-standing complexity and figured out how to simplify the process through our platform, giving merchants that peace of mind when it comes to payments.”

By integrating the dominant payment methods in the various markets they operate, dLocal has made it easier for remittances to enter the country, providing an essential service for the African economy. dLocal has successfully expanded its reach to over 2 billion consumers across 40 emerging market countries, by accepting about 900 local payment methods.

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