In the latest Business Reporter’s Future of Payments Report, distributed as a printed supplement of the Sunday Telegraph and posted online by Business Reporter and The Telegraph, PagBrasil had the opportunity to share its view about what is at stake for the future of payments. The company has shared its belief that fostering digital and financial inclusion in emerging countries is essential for the future of the payment industry.
Unlike developed markets, in emerging countries such as Brazil the population access to internet and banking services is not almost universal. The lack of financial and digital inclusion contributes to the extent of poverty in these countries and recent studies indicate that fostering this inclusion is key to changing the situation. In this scenario, digital payments play a crucial role as they enable people to store, transfer and collect money in an inexpensive way and over long distances.
Mobile devices are also essential for digital inclusion, as they democratize access to the internet, online banking, e-commerce and digital payments. Thanks to the wide use of smartphones in Brazil, currently 65% of the population has internet access. Overall, 89% of Brazilian internet users browse on their smartphones. Among lower-income classes, mobile devices are the only connection source for 65% of users.
On the financial inclusion aspect, the payments industry often fails to deliver innovative solutions for the unbanked population. Globally, we see a clear move towards a cashless world. However, in Brazil and other emerging countries, cash is still dominant. Therefore, it is indispensable to come up with ways of including these individuals who only use cash for a more democratic future of payments.
Democratizing Online Payments with Enhanced Boleto
There are 55 million unbanked adults in Brazil and more than 20 million without access to any banking service whatsoever. For this reason, boleto bancário is still one of the most important payment methods in the country. Even with the shift from traditional retail to e-commerce, the boleto has conserved its relevance and is currently used in nearly 25% of all e-commerce transactions. Nonetheless, the boleto bancário system hasn’t been updated since its creation in the early 1990s.
In light of this, PagBrasil has created its Boleto Flash™, a payment method that enhances the characteristics of the popular boleto bancário, providing a fully responsive version for mobile devices and an accelerated payment confirmation. The solution is a way of fomenting the inclusion in the digital and online trends of the millions of Brazilians who pay with boleto and use their smartphones to browse the internet. It is our belief that fostering the inclusion of all social groups is essential for the future of payments and especially for helping the payment industry, as well as the e-commerce sector and the overall economy of an emerging country to reach their full potential.
