Global payment market has been fundamentally affected by the COVID-19 health crisis across different industries internationally. Because of forced limitations by the administrations in many nations, the conventional payment structures moved to digitalized ones as they were safer, quicker, and more convenient during COVID-19 in 2020. Consumers in most countries shifted their preferences towards mobile payments, therefore businesses strived to provide them with experiences on digital- or mobile-first platforms. After the onset of the pandemic, consumers turned to the types of payments where there was less interaction, thus, cashless transactions were projected to increase twofold globally by 2030, with the Asia-Pacific region leading in them.
Amid the pandemic, Latin American consumers mostly opted for smartphones when shopping online, and with such usage growing 2019 to 2020. Mercado Libre, a major online retail player in the region, reported that over 70% of sales were made via mobile in 2020. The value of digital purchases via mobile spiked in Brazil by almost 80% from 2019 to 2020. However, there were also consumers who avoided mobile payment apps, as around a quarter of respondents to a survey in Brazil reported that they believed they were unsafe or that they did not know how they worked.