Openpay Review

Openpay is a Mexican online payments company founded in Querétaro in 2013 and part of the BBVA Group since 2017. BBVA signed the agreement to buy it on 23 December 2016 and announced the closing, at its Mexican bank BBVA Bancomer (now BBVA México), on 24 April 2017. It lets a business take cards, SPEI bank transfers and cash payments at more than 30,000 shops through its own Paynet network, from one checkout, payment link or API integration. Its prices are published. As of October 2026 domestic Visa, Mastercard and Carnet cards and American Express cost 2.9% + MX$2.50 + IVA. International Visa and Mastercard cards cost 4.10% + IVA, SPEI transfers MX$8.00 + IVA, and cash payments 2.9% + MX$2.50 + IVA. Interest-free instalments (meses sin intereses) add a surcharge of 4.8% to 13.8%, depending on the term. There is no monthly fee and no fixed contract term. Openpay works as an aggregator: it collects your sales into an Openpay balance and pays the balance out weekly, on the weekday you choose. Card sales become available to pay out one business day after the sale, and Amex and cash sales after three. The terms are firmly on Openpay's side. It can hold all or part of your balance for up to 540 days, makes you liable for chargebacks for 540 days, and charges 3% a month interest on unpaid chargeback debts. It can also refuse or close an account without giving a reason. BBVA also sells Openpay to its own customers as Zona de cobro, a separately priced product run through the BBVA app.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Openpay’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What Openpay is

Openpay is a Mexican online payments company. Its own company timeline dates it to 2013, and BBVA's April 2017 announcement says it was founded that year. BBVA and Xataka México name Eric Núñez, Héber Lazcano and Roberto Bargagli as the founders, and Xataka places the start in Querétaro. On 23 December 2016 BBVA announced it had signed an agreement to buy the company, which its Mexican bank, then BBVA Bancomer and now BBVA México, was already working with. BBVA announced the closing, at BBVA Bancomer, on 24 April 2017. At the time BBVA described Openpay as handling card, cash, loyalty-points and bank-transfer payments in a single integration, through its own Paynet network of more than 12,000 points of sale.

Today the Mexican contracting company is Openpay, S.A. de C.V., at Av. 5 de Febrero 1351 in Querétaro. Its 'Quiénes somos' page describes it as having "el respaldo de Grupo BBVA" (the backing of the BBVA Group). Openpay also has sites and price lists for Colombia, Peru and Argentina, each with its own terms. This review covers the Mexican merchant product. The name is shared with an unrelated Australian buy-now-pay-later company, so check the domain when reading about it.

How it works

A merchant signs up online and gets a sandbox account straight away, then applies to have the account activated for live payments. Once live, it can take payments through a hosted checkout, an API, e-commerce plugins or payment links. Customers can pay by credit, debit or American Express card, by SPEI transfer from their own online banking using a unique reference, or in cash. With cash, the customer takes a barcode reference to one of the shops in Paynet, Openpay's own cash network, which its pages put at more than 30,000 points across Mexico, including 7-Eleven, Walmart, Farmacias del Ahorro and Circle K. Card payments can be split into interest-free instalments (meses sin intereses) of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.

Openpay's terms describe two modes. In the main 'Modo Agregador o PSP' (aggregator mode), Openpay processes the payment and credits it to the merchant's Openpay balance. It then pays the balance out, minus its commissions. In a 'Modo Procesador o Gateway', the merchant's bank settles card sales directly and Openpay charges only for the platform. Most small merchants signing up online use aggregator mode, which is why we classify Openpay as a payment facilitator. The OpenControl fraud-screening system is included at no extra cost in its basic form. An advanced version is available under a separate paid contract. 3D Secure is available and can be made mandatory for riskier business types. The terms are explicit that the fraud liability stays with the merchant if it chooses not to use it.

Pricing

Openpay publishes its rates. As of October 2026 its commissions page lists 2.9% + MX$2.50 + IVA for domestic Visa, Mastercard and Carnet cards, and the same for American Express, which it does not split into domestic and international. International Visa and Mastercard cards cost 4.10% + IVA and cannot be used for instalments. SPEI transfers cost a flat MX$8.00 + IVA. Cash payments cost the merchant 2.9% + MX$2.50 + IVA, and the shop also charges the buyer its own fee, which Openpay's cash page lists at MX$8 to MX$12 depending on the chain. IVA is added on top of every figure. Openpay does not state the rate, but at Mexico's standard 16% a MX$1,000 domestic card sale costs MX$31.50 plus MX$5.04 of IVA. There is no monthly fee and no integration fee, and refunds do not return the commission.

Instalments are priced as a surcharge on the 2.9% base rate. The surcharge is 4.8% for 3 months, 7.8% for 6, 10.8% for 9 and 13.8% for 12, giving totals of 7.7%, 10.7%, 13.7% and 16.7%, each plus IVA. Minimum purchases are MX$300, MX$600, MX$900 and MX$1,200. The table shows only percentages, and the landing-page version describes the total as the 2.9% base plus the surcharge. Neither says whether the MX$2.50 fixed fee applies on top.

There are three caveats. First, a footnote on the commissions page says the commissions that apply are subject to Openpay's prior analysis and approval, so they "podrían diferir de las tarifas publicadas" (could differ from the published rates). Second, the same page says BBVA customers get a preferential rate but does not publish it, so we cannot give a figure. Third, the terms let Openpay change commissions on 30 calendar days' notice posted on the commissions page.

Payouts

The commissions page shows when money becomes available: one business day after the sale for Visa, Mastercard and SPEI, and three business days after for American Express and cash. Openpay's terms then pay the available balance out on a schedule. They define the payout period as "una vez a la semana en días hábiles o cada 7 (siete) días naturales" (once a week on business days, or every 7 calendar days), on a weekday the merchant chooses. Changing the day, adding payout days or asking for an unscheduled payout requires approval. The terms say this is only considered after at least three months of operating, or once there is enough transaction volume to analyse. The help centre for Openpay's Colombian business gives the same weekly rule. A new Mexican merchant should therefore plan on weekly cash flow, even though individual sales clear in a day or three.

Contract, holds and chargebacks

The Terms and Conditions of Use have been in force since 22 June 2026. They have no fixed term and no termination fee. Either side can end them on 30 calendar days' written notice, and Openpay can suspend service immediately when you give notice. The terms are non-negotiable for online sign-ups. Openpay can change them on 30 days' notice. If you do not give notice to end the service within those 30 days, or keep operating afterwards, you are taken to accept the change. Disputes go to ICC arbitration in Mexico City, and class actions are excluded.

The time limits that matter all run long. Chargebacks remain your liability for 540 calendar days after the charge. When a chargeback arrives, Openpay takes the transaction amount plus its commission from your balance and returns it only if the issuing bank rules in your favour. If your balance cannot cover a chargeback, the chargeback clause says you must pay within 5 business days of Openpay's request, after which interest of 3% a month applies. The debts clause separately gives 30 business days to clear a negative balance from refunds or chargebacks, and lets Openpay charge a card or bank account it holds on file and report you to the Buró de Crédito or Círculo de Crédito. Several clauses allow holds. Under 'Suspensión de cuenta de forma preventiva', Openpay can hold all or part of the balance for up to 540 days from the transaction date. Under 'Bloqueo de saldo disponible', when an account is fully closed it can hold an amount equal to card charges for 180 days, or 540 days for international cards and for memberships, holiday packages, travel agencies, scheduled deliveries and insurance, plus up to 540 days from the last transaction to cover claims by any authority. Under 'Responsabilidades posteriores a la terminación', you stay liable for 540 days after your last card charge and Openpay can hold your balance for that period if you cancel. Openpay can rescind the terms early if fraudulent or suspicious transactions or chargebacks reach 2% of a month's sales. You have 3 business days to send evidence for a chargeback dispute.

None of this is unusual for an aggregator taking on small merchants without underwriting each one in depth. The terms are, however, worded as broadly as possible in Openpay's favour. They say Openpay can refuse to activate an account, or suspend one without prior notice (it emails within 72 business hours afterwards), with no obligation to explain why.

Zona de cobro and the BBVA connection

BBVA México sells Openpay's technology to its own customers as Zona de cobro, which lives inside the BBVA app. It is aimed at small sellers and needs a BBVA account. It takes card payments through the Openpay Mini Bluetooth reader (MX$499.00 + IVA, which BBVA lists as MX$578.84 including IVA and shipping), tap-to-pay on the phone itself, and payment links. Its pricing is separate from the online gateway: 2.99% + IVA for Visa, Mastercard and Carnet, 3.5% + IVA for Amex, and 3.7% + IVA for international cards, as of October 2026, with instalment surcharges on the same scale. Zona de cobro pays out the next business day (three for Amex) once sales reach MX$50. Its help pages give a collection limit of MX$125,000, which is also the monthly maximum. BBVA customers who have a Zona de cobro offer in the app have been offered a promotional 0.99% + IVA rate on domestic Visa and Mastercard single-payment sales for their sign-up month and the month after, in monthly promotions running since at least May 2025. The current published terms cover sign-ups to 30 November 2026, after which the rate returns to 2.99% + IVA. Zona de cobro has its own terms, in force from 3 July 2026, with the same 540-day hold and chargeback periods. 'Link de pago' is the name of a payment-link feature in both products, not a separate company. If you bank with BBVA and sell mainly in person, Zona de cobro is the relevant product. If you sell online and need SPEI, cash or an API, it is the Openpay gateway.

Reputation and complaints

Public merchant feedback is thin. When we fetched Openpay's Trustpilot page (openpay.mx) in October 2026 it had 16 reviews, with a TrustScore of 1.8 out of 5, while the star breakdown showed all 16 as one-star reviews. The fullest review visible, from 2020, complained of slow support, chargebacks lost despite sending the requested documents, and payout delays of around a month. Sixteen reviews over several years are too few to measure a large processor by, but they point the same way as the terms: the friction comes from chargebacks, holds and support response times. Our searches found no enforcement action by the CNBV, Condusef or Profeco, and no court case, naming Openpay. Its terms let it share merchant data with BBVA for customers of both.

Who it suits

• Mexican online shops and apps that want cards, SPEI and cash payments from one integration at published rates.
• Businesses whose customers often pay in cash or do not have cards, where the Paynet network adds reach.
• BBVA México customers, who can ask for the preferential rate and who may find Zona de cobro the simpler fit for in-person sales.
• Not a good fit for businesses that need daily payouts from the first month, sell in categories on Openpay's prohibited list (crypto, adult content, debt relief, money transmission, timeshares, and magazine subscriptions, future-event tickets and property deposits with terms under four months, among others), or run chargeback rates near 2%.