40 million people made use of some online payment during the pandemic: Study

June
8, 2021

3 min read

Digital payments in Latin America grew in a way that we could never imagine. Sure, the health crisis has to be taken into account, but the use of e-commerce has skyrocketed beyond any possible prediction. At least that reflects the recent study of Mercado Pago Trends of online payments in Latam one year after COVID-19 . The analysis made between April 2020 and March 2021, contemplates the use of two online payment methods: the payment processor that is used in millions of web pages and the use of the payment link, used to charge through networks social or chats.

This analysis, carried out in seven countries in the region ( Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay ) between April 2020 and March 2021, showed that more than 40 million people made use of an online payment ,   Brazil being the country with the most new users with 21 million, followed by Argentina with 8 million and Mexico with 4 million . Chile and Colombia added 3 million each, while Peru added a million new digital buyers. Likewise, more than 21 thousand entrepreneurs charged online during the last year.

“During the pandemic, the online payment and collection technologies that we developed at Mercado Pago became a solution for businesses to continue operating. Sellers reached more digital customers who dared to buy online for the first time due to the ease and accessibility of our methods, ”said Yamil Kuri, Mercado Pago’s online payments manager in a statement.

^{Image: Courtesy Mercado Pago}

The payment link is preferred by SMEs

More than 682,000 entrepreneurs in Latin America used the payment link as their online payment method, compared to 306,000 who did so before the pandemic. In Mexico, the year-on-year increase was 61% and more than 14 thousand SMEs used this method during the pandemic, which stands out for receiving payments with a debit or credit card through a link that is sent through social networks or chats to buyers.

^{Image: Courtesy Mercado Pago}

On the other hand, 7 thousand sellers in Mexico offered their products through web pages and charged with the Mercado Pago payment processor. The figure doubled the 3,000 web marketers before the pandemic. Other Latin American countries, such as Chile and Colombia, digitized 5,000 and 4,000 businesses respectively.

^{Image: Courtesy Mercado Pago}