Digital payments moving at 'blistering pace'

Digital payments are replacing cash in Latin America at a ‘blistering pace’ according to a new report from pymnts.com “with digital payments expected to account for two-thirds of the region’s eCommerce transaction value and nearly half of its point-of-sale (POS) value by 2030. This anticipated growth underscores a decade-long plummet in cash usage, signalling a decisive move toward digital-first transactions across the continent.” Notable points include:

1 Digital payments rising from 14% of ecommerce in 2014 to 48% in 2024.

2 Pix processed 64 billion transactions in 2024, a 53% year-over-year increase, surpassing the combined total of debit and credit card transactions by 80%.

3 As of 2024, 3,069 FinTechs are operating across 26 countries in the region, a sharp increase from 703 FinTechs in 18 countries in 2017.

Pymnts.com notes that government support has been crucial, including pro-FinTech regulations, digitized subsidy payments, instant payment systems, “alongside efforts to expand internet and mobile data access to 65% of the population by the close of 2023”.