The latest publication from the Germany-based online research firm yStats.com titled “Latin America Mobile Payment Methods 2022” provides insights into the current and future developments taking place in the mobile payments market in the region. The report also highlights the most preferred payment methods across countries within Latin America.
Mobile and Proximity payments in Latin America are projected to expand post-pandemic
The expansion of digital payments in Latin America can be attributed to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. International and domestic credit cards formed the most preferred payment methods when making E-Commerce purchases in 2021, as revealed by the new yStats.com report. More than half of B2C E-Commerce purchases in the region were made using credit cards. In terms of payment growth, bank transfers witnessed a substantially high growth rate in 2021, thereby being the fastest-growing alternative payment method. Moreover, bank transfers saw a year-on-year growth rate of more than 100% in 2021, which was much higher as compared to cards, as stated in the new yStats.com report. Furthermore, the share of credit cards in total B2C E-Commerce sales value is forecasted to decline by 2024, whereas the share of bank transfers is projected to double in the same period. The rise in mobile shopping among consumers is also slowly increasing the use of proximity mobile payments within the region. Despite this, the growth rate of proximity mobile payments is still exceptionally lower in Latin America if compared to other regions of the world. Nevertheless, mobile payments witnessed rapid growth in Brazil as one of the leading payment solutions in the country, demonstrating massive expansion and gaining millions of users after its launch, as reported in the latest yStats.com publication. The service facilitates the instant transfer of money via banks and digital wallets, with more than three-quarters of the transfers made via the portal representing P2P transfers, as of May 2022. A similar service recently launched in Mexico is expected to drive the growth of mobile payments.
Mobile wallet use is forecasted to expand by 2025 across Latin America
With the rise in adoption and usage of mobile and digital payments, mobile wallets as a payment method are also slowly showing signs of growth. In Latin America, digital wallets observed a growth rate of more than one-third, with a total volume of E-wallets reaching certain billions of Euros as of 2021, as spelled out by the new yStats.com report. Additionally, mobile wallet use in the region is projected to increase notably through 2025, with a two-fold rise from 2021. Although only about one in ten E-Commerce sales were made via digital wallets in Latin America in 2021, the payment method was still used more than cash-based payments or bank transfers. In Brazil and Mexico, mobile wallet transaction value is expected to increase to a value worth billions of Euros in 2025, according to research cited in the new yStats.com report.
