SPEI: Mexico's real-time bank transfer (a2a)
SPEI is a real-time bank transfer (a2a) used in Mexico. Mexico's real-time interbank transfer rail operated by Banxico — the equivalent of Pix but bank-app-native. Available to every consumer or business with a Mexican bank account. This page covers how the flow works, where consumers use it, and which merchants should accept it.
How the SPEI flow works
SPEI (Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios) is operated by Banxico and connects every Mexican bank into a real-time interbank transfer network.
At checkout the merchant's PSP generates a reference (CLABE account, amount and concept). The shopper opens their banking app, initiates a SPEI transfer to the merchant's CLABE with the reference, and authorises with the bank's SCA.
Funds move in real time between banks; the merchant's PSP receives a webhook once the credit is reconciled.
SPEI is used for both P2P and P2M and is the workhorse rail for B2B and higher-ticket Mexican payments.
Typical use cases
- Higher-ticket Mexican e-commerce and B2B invoicing.
- Any category where card decline rates or interchange are a problem.
- Marketplaces and payout flows to Mexican sellers.
Consumer reach
Available to every consumer or business with a Mexican bank account.
Universally supported inside Mexican banking apps.
Who should accept SPEI
- Mexican e-commerce with meaningful high-ticket or B2B exposure.
- Merchants paying out to Mexican sellers or contractors.
- Cross-border merchants integrating with a MoR/PSP that surfaces SPEI as a checkout option.
Operational detail
The operational half of every method profile — settlement, refunds, disputes, PSP coverage and licensing — is reserved for Payment Methods List founding partners. It's the part vendor sites won't publish and the part that actually decides whether SPEI works for your stack.
Settlement time
How fast SPEI funds land after the payer confirms, behaviour outside scheme hours, whether the rail settles gross or net, and the realistic T+n to sweep to USD/EUR — plus the PSPs where the advertised timeline actually holds in Mexico.
Book a founding-partner call →Refund mechanics
How SPEI refunds are executed end-to-end when the rail has no scheme-level reversal — payer-initiated pulls, credit transfers, or PSP-fronted refunds — plus partial-refund support, time limits, and the API surface each PSP exposes.
Book a founding-partner call →Chargeback exposure
Whether SPEI has any dispute construct at all, which recall/return/indemnity vectors actually exist on the rail, how consumer-protection rules in Mexico route claims back to merchants, and observed loss rates versus cards.
Book a founding-partner call →PSP coverage matrix
Which acquirers and aggregators run direct rail connections to SPEI vs. reselling a partner, coverage depth and reliability, effective pricing bands, and who to pick when Mexico volume is your primary use case.
Book a founding-partner call →KYC & licensing notes
Requirements to accept SPEI — local entity vs. cross-border MoR, licensing regime governing the rail in Mexico, KYC obligations at onboarding and per-transaction, and FX/reporting rules for foreign merchants.
Book a founding-partner call →Frequently asked questions about SPEI
What is SPEI?
SPEI is a real-time bank transfer (a2a) used in Mexico, in the Latin America region. Mexico's real-time interbank transfer rail operated by Banxico — the equivalent of Pix but bank-app-native. The profile on this page documents the checkout flow step by step, the use cases it fits, the consumer base that can pay with it, and the merchant types that should carry it. Last reviewed July 31, 2026 by Ale Aznar.
Which countries does SPEI cover?
SPEI is recorded against Mexico in the Latin America region, which is the market where its consumer reach is meaningful for merchants. Cross-border acceptance depends on the acquirer or merchant-of-record you use rather than on the rail itself. The Mexico country hub lists every other alternative and local method tracked for that market alongside SPEI.
What does SPEI cost a merchant?
Pricing for SPEI is not a single published number: it moves with monthly volume, vertical, entity type and whether you connect through a direct acquirer or an aggregator. Effective pricing bands per provider, plus the fixed-fee and FX components that sit alongside the headline rate, are part of the founding-partner dataset rather than this public Mexico profile.
Which PSPs and aggregators give access to SPEI?
Access to SPEI runs either through an acquirer with a direct rail connection or through an aggregator reselling a partner's connection, and the two differ in reliability and reporting. The list of providers processing SPEI in Mexico today, whether each is direct or resold, and where onboarding is currently restricted sits in the founding-partner PSP coverage matrix.
Is SPEI available for Higher-ticket Mexican e-commerce and B2B invoicing?
Yes. That is one of the documented use cases for SPEI in Mexico: Higher-ticket Mexican e-commerce and B2B invoicing. Vertical eligibility is ultimately set by the provider you onboard with, not by the rail, so regulated categories such as gambling, crypto and adult content are commonly excluded even where the real-time bank transfer (a2a) itself supports the flow. Confirm the restriction list with your acquirer.
What are the settlement time and currency for SPEI?
SPEI is a real-time bank transfer (a2a), so the payer-side confirmation and the merchant-side payout are separate events with different timing. Settlement windows, cut-off behaviour outside scheme hours, the payout currency, and the realistic timeline to sweep funds out of Mexico are documented in the operational section of this profile, available to Payment Methods List founding partners.