MercadoLibre doubles down on credit business

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, MercadoLibre CFO Pedro Arnt said the company will continue to expand in the credit space. More than half of the Latin America-based e-commerce platform’s revenues now come from its fintech branch.

Why should we care?
Arnt said that the Latin American e-commerce space has unique characteristics when compared to the US landscape—greater stickiness in e-commerce compared to retail, for example—but MercadoLibre’s success may encourage US-based e-commerce providers to expand their financial offerings as well. There’s been little fintech-related news from Walmart in recent weeks, for instance; MercadoLibre’s balance sheet may add fuel to the fire and encourage Walmart to copy the Latin American giant’s playbook domestically. And, with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as major lending partners, MercadoLibre may provide a blueprint that Goldman and Citi could encourage other e-commerce providers to adopt in the future.