Amazon and one of Latin America’s largest online retailers, MercadoLibre, opened talks with Mexico’s central bank about accepting the country’s forthcoming mobile payments service, Reuters reported.

Banco de Mexico is expected to begin the pilot phase of its CoDi mobile payments platform this month. The system will allow payments in participating physical retailers and online stores using QR codes.

In an interview with Reuters, Banco de Mexico director of operations and payments Jaime Cortina confirmed the two retail giants were in discussions about accepting payments using the system with both able to implement it “relatively quickly”.

The CoDi system is being developed with the aim of increasing financial inclusion and moving the country away from being a cash dominated economy.

In 2017, only 37 per cent of Mexico’s population over the age of 15 had a bank account, figures from the World Bank’s Global Findex showed.