Mexican Mobile Point of Sale Company Senor Pago Receives $1 Million in Funding

Investors have been showing an interest in Mexico, adding up to $1 million in funding for Mexican mobile point of sale (mPOS) company, Señor Pago. Sr. Pago, one of the two largest mPOS services in Mexico, announced July 14 they have closed a seed round with the $1 million funding.

These investments will go to supporting Sr. Pago and their newly released Sr. Pago Card System launched a month ago. The Sr. Pago Card System is a first of its kind in the Americas, combining a smartphone credit card reader and debit card. The debit card will be able to be reloaded directly through the credit card reader. Providing the banking backbone for the debit card, Sr. Pago has teamed up with Mastercard and Mexican financial institution Te Creemos.

The Sr. Pago Card System is directed toward individuals and small businesses, both of which are considered heavily underserved by banks according to a statement by Antonio Flores Aldama, CTO and COO of Sr. Pago.

“Sixty-one percent of the population of Mexico (more than 73 million people) are unbanked, with their payment and spending transactions restricted to cash,” said Aldama. “These unbanked include middle class professionals, entrepreneurs and small businesses (architects, restaurant owners, lawyers, taxi drivers, door to door salespeople, business owners, etc.). Most of them also have smartphones which provides the opportunity for Sr. Pago to offer an innovative technology solution for them.”

Those who use the Sr. Pago Card System will be treated to a chip-based debit card, and a card reader. This card reader can connect to either a smartphone or tablet, and will be able to accept payments from either magnetic strip or chip-based cards. It will also have an app for management, and can transfer payments to the provided debit card. With Mastercard behind the debit card, it can be used to pay for any service that accepts Mastercard.

During this most recent seed round, Sr. Prago's innovative service attracted attention from two impressive Silicon Valley tech experts. Investor Jay Adelson, an entrepreneur who has started such companies as Digg, Revision3, and SimpleGeo, stated “Sr. Pago has the key characteristics I look for in a startup: an innovative solution to a specific market pain, strategic partnerships, a seasoned team, and a long-term vision that has a positive impact on society.” The other investor, Barrett Lyon, has founded Prolexic Technologies, Defense.Net, XDN, Inc., BitGravity (News - Alert), Inc. Lyon will be bringing his expertise in security and networking with him to advise Sr. Prago.