EBANX’s new study reveals that digital players are doing more than just maintaining credit cards’ strong position in Latin America – they are driving their growth
Digital-first financial institutions have become key drivers behind cards’ sustained presence and growth in rising economies. According to internal data from EBANX, a global Payment Service Provider (PSP) that has already processed transactions for nearly 70% of Brazil’s credit cardholders, fintech companies and digital players now account for 41% of the total value transacted through credit cards for online purchases in Brazil. This trend is gaining traction in other countries in Latin America, mainly Colombia (21%) and Argentina (19%), where digital banking expansion and intense fintech activity are pushing card issuance.
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“This is a clear indication of how the fast and massive adoption of alternative payment channels by consumers in emerging countries is also influencing the credit card industry in these regions,” says João Del Valle, CEO and Co-founder of EBANX. “E-wallets and other real-time payments like Pix, in Brazil, and PSE, in Colombia, have raised the bar and driven innovation across all segments, including credit cards. These digital solutions have pushed traditional payment methods to evolve and adapt to meet modern consumer expectations.”
Fintech and neobank’s key contributions to the credit card market include user-friendly platforms, reward programs, and enhanced customer experiences that have reshaped how consumers engage with card payments. As a result, these institutions now have nearly the same reach as the major traditional banks in emerging markets such as Brazil.
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In Brazil, Latin America’s largest market, their user base jumped from 25 million individuals to 100 million in three years, per the Central Bank of Brazil. Four out of 10 of these people are credit card holders, a group that has tripled in size in the country since 2019, led by digital players. One effect of this trend is the growth in credit card usage in digital commerce across emerging markets, with a projected annual increase of 13% through 2027, according to the new edition of Beyond Borders, EBANX’s annual comprehensive study on the digital market and payment trends in emerging economies.
What’s next in credit cards
Incumbent banks have followed in the footsteps of digital-first financial institutions and are also investing in innovations further to advance the online purchasing experience in rising economies. Consumers are the ultimate beneficiaries, gaining access to more straightforward and secure checkout systems, such as click-to-pay technology, which reduces the number of clicks needed to complete a purchase, improving convenience and efficiency.
Network tokenization stands out as another prime example, as it replaces sensitive card data with encrypted identifiers for each transaction, reducing fraud risk without compromising approval rates. Additionally, the technology lowers fraud-related declines and enhances the overall quality of transactions. In tests conducted by EBANX in Brazil, network tokens reduced the decline of transactions by more than 86% due to card security issues. Furthermore, the adoption of network tokens led to an increase of up to 7 percentage points in overall approval rates for online retail merchants and up to 5 percentage points for subscription-based merchants.
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“In today’s dynamic payments landscape, the focus isn’t on opposing Pix or e-wallets to cards or choosing between traditional and new payment methods,” explains Del Valle. “Instead, it’s about expanding opportunities and creating an ecosystem where different payment solutions can coexist and complement each other, ultimately providing consumers with more choices and better experiences in their digital transactions.”
Debit cards in emerging markets
While credit cards account for approximately 80% of online purchases in emerging markets, according to data from Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) in Beyond Borders, debit cards have become an important avenue for attracting new online customers in countries like Peru, Mexico, and South Africa. Especially in markets where access to credit is more restricted, financial inclusion has catapulted the usage of debit cards, which are linked to existing account balances, and brought new consumers into e-commerce.
Peru exemplifies this pattern, where 60% of first-time online shoppers use debit cards, according to EBANX’s internal data. In Mexico, this figure reaches 55%. Not surprisingly, in these two countries, debit cards account for a larger share of online transaction volume than credit cards, at 49% compared to 27% in Peru and 38% versus 31% in Mexico. “However, it’s worth noting that this share will likely decrease in some key economies from emerging markets such as Brazil and Colombia, as alternative payment methods mature in these countries,” reflects Del Valle. In Brazil, where Pix holds 40% of the online sales volume, debit cards now account for only 1% of digital commerce transaction value.
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source – businesswire
