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Short Interview with Aron Schwarzkopf, CEO and Co-founder of Kushki. on the evolution of Pos and Digital Payments
What problem Kushki is solving ?
Kushki standardizes local payment infrastructure across Latin America under a single API, built on a new-age tech stack, it allows businesses to rapidly expand throughout the region by using our services to do their billing and accept customer payments.
How did Kushki begin? What motivated you to start the business?
Before Kushki, navigating payment methods, providers, and regulation country per country was incredibly complex, consequently creating a major blocker for high-growth companies in the ecosystem.
Could you tell us a bit about your background (with Leaf)?
My co-founder Sebastian and I met during college in Boston; we co-founded Leaf with the mission to bring point of sales data online. In 2014, Heartland Payment Systems, now merged with Global Payments, acquired the business. During that time, we developed innovation around payment acceptance e-POS. More importantly, we developed a core competency around the payment acquiring ecosystem. When we began to research Latin America, we quickly identified the fragmentation around payments in the region, and seized on the opportunity.
Digital payment advancements on mobile POS systems?
The region differs per country when it comes to stage and velocity of payment adoption. That said, there is a trend for mobile POS distribution regionally, primarily given by the technological flexibility APIs that power mobile POS. For example, companies like BillPocket and Clip in Mexico have had an explosive growth in distribution in comparison to legacy merchant services providers.
Common security concerns for mobile POS systems?
The biggest issue around security and fraud management in the region is the lack of technological infrastructure within legacy payment processors. As you may know, the Visa and MasterCard rails in Latin America work very differently than they do in Europe and the US. The majority of card transactions in Latin America do not reach Visa and MasterCard for authentication, which in turn makes transactions less secure.
What is Kushki’s USP?
Kushki connects all local payment types, country-by-country, under one simple API, allowing companies to streamline their understanding and operations in the region.