Mexico: Info, Processes, and Troubleshooting
Last updated: November 17, 2021
The FareHarbor market in Mexico is a unique and exciting market that requires some of its own setups, processes, and general cultural info about doing business in Mexico. In this page, we’ll cover general info, culture and best practices, good examples of live companies, onboarding process and setup, currencies and payments, affiliates, electronic invoicing, and additional resources.
Read below for more information on how to handle this market.
General Info, Culture & Best Practices
About Mexico and the Travel Industry
Mexico is the #1 destination from the US and the 6th most visited country in the world. With a population of over 130 million people and with the 11th biggest economy, it’s a huge market with a lot of potential, particularly in the travel industry.
The travel industry in Mexico has been above 3% in the past few years and is expected to surpass the 25 billion by 2019. More importantly 69% of all US tourists booked online before traveling to Mexico.
The top destinations in Mexico are:
- Cancun
- Mexico City
- Riviera Maya
- Los Cabos
- Puerto Vallarta
- Riviera Nayarit
Peak seasons are December – January, Spring Break and Mid Summer.
Culture
Mexicans have a strong heritage and particular culture that impacts every aspect of the country and their society, including the way of doing business and closing deals. Below are a few tips that can go along way, dealing with Mexican clients.
- Mexicans don’t believe in doing business with strangers.
- A personal relationship comes first, business second.
- Seniority and formality of titles are important.
- Lunch happens around 3:00pm (eat a snack!)
- Dressing smart is key.
- Cash is the king. Many places won’t accept cards, be prepared.
- Mexico is safe, but be careful, especially in Mexico City.
- Rigid schedules don’t really exist in Latin America.
- Mexicans don’t like to say no. Understand the nuance.
More information on Mexican culture and doing business in Mexico here.
Good Examples of Live Companies
Visit the examples below for some live companies in Mexico:
OB Process and Setup
OB Training instructions
- Mexico join.me number TBD
- Once Spanish has been added under Translations > Languages, check with client if 0. Dashboard language should be Spanish.
- Make sure to request a copy of the official ID for the legal representative of the company in order to complete the ID verification process for international accounts.
- We require for every company to work with FH to have a valid Liability Insurance covering the company. A copy of the certificate of insurance in order to complete the OB Process is required. The minimum amount required for the insurance policy may vary depending on the type of activity and risk associated with it. More information on this TBD
Currencies and Dashboard Setup
FareHarbor currently doesn’t support multi-currency dashboards and so, every dashboard must have a single currency associated with it. For bank accounts in Mexico the only currency supported by Stripe is the Mexican Peso (MXN).
USD vs. MXN
Many tour operators advertise and have their prices set in USD while using Mexican bank accounts. To work around this issue we can pitch the client the option of setting the dashboard in MXN and establish an effective exchange rate to USD. That way while the prices will still appear on the website (not FH) in USD, once the final customer starts the booking process and pays, the equivalent amount in MXN will be processed and charged to their credit card. This will effectively allow them to choose their own exchange rate, by setting a price in USD to be advertised on the website and the equivalente price set on FH.
In these cases it’s important to use the headlines of the items and description fields to show the rates in both USD and MXN, to make it clear to the final customer how much they will be charged in MXN.
Completing Payment Setup Checklist (tips for client)
- Because Stripe’s verification/compliance process for Mexico is very strict, clients must complete the Payment Setup Checklist ASAP to ensure they start getting payouts in a timely manner
- The business tax identifier in Mexico is the RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes)
- Account number is the 18-digit CLABE (Clave Bancaria Estandarizada)
CC rate
- Standard is 3.6% + Mex $3 (but varies per account)
- Are there separate taxes and fees for online bookings?
- Yes – this is the default on the dash
- Found in Settings → Advanced company settings (gear icon) → Bookings → “Split Taxes and Fees in Pricing Breakdown”
Gift card rules
- We can collect fees on gift cards in Mexico. If this is not already enabled, go to the company’s advanced settings and enable gift card booking fees.
Support phone number: +52 33 4160 0994 (make sure the “Live with FareHarbor!” email you send to client contains this number!)
Electronic Invoicing
In Mexico every company is required to submit all their sales invoices to the SAT (Mexican IRS) electronically and through a web portal online. In order to submit them, those invoices need to be pre-registered with a digital stamp by one of 76 certified independent agencies (private companies) commonly referred as PAC’s that offer this service and then submit directly to the SAT via a .txt file online.
Most companies have an accounting system in place that connects directly or exports the sales with all the required fields of information in the specific format that these agencies requires in order to register and subsequently submit to the SAT. Most agencies accept .xml / .txt / .xlsx / .yaml formats. We are currently looking into potential connection with different agencies in Mexico, so that we can offer that option for our current and future clients. Find the full list of PAC’s on the official list of the SAT here.