At gas stations and convenience stores across Mexico, cash is starting to lose its default status as digital payment infrastructure expands nationwide. A new rollout from FEMSA signals how quickly that shift is moving from policy ambition into retail reality.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said FEMSA’s payments unit NetPay will deploy a digital payment system across nearly 600 gas stations and convenience stores. The system integrates card, QR code, and CoDi payments directly into store management platforms, effectively linking payment data with operations rather than treating it as a separate layer.
That integration matters because it reduces friction for merchants that have previously relied on cash. FEMSA said the technology could later extend into broader retail and restaurant settings.
Catching Up with the Rest of the Region
Mexico has lagged behind much of Latin America in digital payments, where countries like Brazil have rapidly scaled instant payment systems. The Sheinbaum administration is now pushing to close that gap by targeting cash-heavy infrastructure directly.
Last month, the government announced that gas stations and highway toll booths would phase out cash acceptance by the end of 2026. To encourage electronic payments on both sides of the equation, card payment commissions for gas stations were reduced through October.
“Mexico’s reliance on cash is the result of a mix of systemic issues with payment network expansion, merchant acceptance, and low consumer banking penetration,” said Ben Danner, Senior Analyst of Debit at Javelin Strategy & Research. “However, Mexico has been moving towards digital payment adoption as networks expand and issues such as financial security push consumers to seek safer methods than cash handling.”
“As digital payments become more readily available across Mexico, we’d expect cash usage to decline over time,” he said. “Part of this will require behavioral change and part of it will require an infrastructural change.”
Building the Infrastructure Shift
To support the transition, Mexico’s Digital Transformation Agency has been tasked with cutting through its permitting red tape to fast-track the installation of payment infrastructure at gas stations and toll plazas nationwide. All toll booths on federal highways are expected to operate exclusively on digital payments before the end of the year.
At the core of the strategy are two central bank-backed platforms, CoDi and DiMo, which enable fee-free mobile payments. The government is also working with Banco del Bienestar to expand digital payment access among recipients of social programs, extending the system beyond formal retail into welfare distribution.
“As the banking world continues to digitize in general, Mexico wants to keep pace,” said Danner. “It’s going to take large-scale efforts such as this to digitize Mexico’s payment system, and it’s a win for utilizing the CoDi and DiMo systems.”
