The Million Dollar Man: How US Companies Are Benefitting From South American Spending

The South American market has long been recognized as a lucrative market by US companies that can deliver huge rewards.

But the issue was always how to reach users, due to the fact cash is king and credit cards aren’t used.

For example, in Chile, only 29% of the population has a credit card, and in Brazil, only 27%.

Added to this is that it has only been since 2018 that smartphone use has started to take off, with the majority of people using much less sophisticated models.

Businesses had to think of another way to penetrate the market – and entrepreneur Marcelo Cardenas came up with the solution.

Now thanks to his innovative ideas in technology, US companies such as Facebook and Twitch, as well as multiple gaming platforms, can access customers and their cash.

Marcelo, who is originally from Chile, created a payment gateway for companies which meant money could be paid through the gateway directly from users’ accounts, so no credit cards were necessary.

He created the bridge between the customer and the business; they were only too happy to walk across it.

He says: “Many low-income earners in Chile don’t have credit cards. The gateway is a big opportunity because now they can buy what they want without a credit card.”

Marcelo’s fintech solution, which he devised, enables the company Pago Maxtron to collect and process payments for US-based businesses inside Chile. It acts as a payment gateway converting them from Chilean pesos to USD.

The groundbreaking method means users can purchase virtual goods or even get themselves extra powers in games.

Marcelo has worked with the app game giant Candy Crush, enabling its parent company, Activision Blizzard, to harness the power of the market.

Marcelo was recently a judge and panelist at the Meet-up ASECH (Association of Entrepreneurs of Chile) to discuss the latest payment gateway system tech industry developments.

ASECH has 48,000 members, and he says it was a privilege to be seen as a leading light and exemplary at his work in the field: “It’s always a privilege to speak to others about my work,” he says.

“All you can hope for is that you can make a difference and create something that makes things easier for people. It’s important to connect people. I like to look at problems and find a solution.”

JT Klepp, the VP of Multinational Commerce, met Marcelo when he was at PlaySpan, which handled payments for digital platforms.

He said: “Marcelo was the first in Chile to come up with the opportunity to allow people to make bancarized transactions.

“The method solved the money flow issue, which is also very complex, even more so in that region of the world. He needed a very strong and unique skill set not only from a technical perspective but from a regulatory and financial perspective as well.”