The Core: Why dLocal Exists
Imagine: your SaaS sells in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, and Indonesia. Stripe isn’t everywhere. PayPal is unpopular. Local payment processors require a legal entity in each country. Sound familiar?
dLocal solves exactly this problem. It’s a single payment processor connecting you to local payment methods in 40+ countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. You work through one contract — dLocal handles everything locally: compliance, local currency settlement, tax requirements.
How It Works
You sign one contract with dLocal (Uruguay-based, regulated by the Central Bank of Uruguay). Then dLocal becomes your payment intermediary in emerging markets: the buyer pays via a local method (Boleto in Brazil, OXXO in Mexico, M-Pesa in Kenya), dLocal accepts the payment in local currency, converts and sends it to you in USD or EUR, and you get a single settlement report.
You don’t need: a Brazilian bank account, a Mexican legal entity, or understanding Nigerian central bank regulations.
Features That Solve Real Problems
Local methods — not just “card support”: In Brazil, 57% of e-commerce goes through Boleto Bancário. In Mexico, OXXO (cash payments at convenience stores) covers the unbanked population. In Kenya, M-Pesa is the main way to pay online. Without these methods, you lose over half the market. dLocal connects them all through a single API.
Pay-in/Pay-out — bidirectional flow: dLocal not only accepts payments but also sends payouts — to freelancers, drivers, marketplace sellers. For gig economy platforms this is critical: payouts arrive on local wallets and bank accounts in hours, not days.
Local-pattern anti-fraud: Fraud in Africa looks different from fraud in Brazil. dLocal’s machine learning is trained on millions of transactions from emerging markets specifically.
Who It Really Suits
SaaS in emerging markets, marketplaces and gig platforms, e-commerce with physical goods, games and digital goods with carrier billing. Not suitable if your market is Western Europe or the US (Stripe/Paddle are cheaper and simpler there).
Pricing and Onboarding
dLocal doesn’t publish fixed rates — each integration is individually negotiated. Benchmarks: 3–6% payment processing, 1–2% payouts, no onboarding fee, minimum $50K–100K/month for direct contracts.
Partner Program
dLocal Partner Program targets developers, platforms, and referral partners. Referral commission: percentage of processing volume (negotiated individually). Technology partnership for platforms integrating dLocal. Regional partners get higher rates for Africa and Middle East clients. The program is non-public — contact the team directly.
How to Start
Apply at dlocal.com → sales call → describe your use case → get a personal offer → integrate via SDK (iOS/Android), REST API, or plugins (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento). Test environment available before signing.