As the world continues to move away from cash, Scandinavian consumer behavior provides clues about the future of payments in the western world.

Call it a case of good news masking bad. According to the 2019 Identity Study from Javelin Strategy & Research, credit card fraud dropped by nearly 25% in 2018, or $6.4 billion, compared to $8.1 billion in 2017. The bad news reflects rapidly changing tactics among cybercriminals — and threatens to make payment fraud detection harder than ever before.

Six out of ten Brazilians in social classes A, B, and C use digital payment methods as channels for payment of bills, purchases, and transactions over the internet.

Spanish consumers remain faithful to the payment in cash, although it is limited to purchases of less than 50 euros, especially related to day-to-day expenses (such as having a coffee outside the home). Specifically, 87% of Spaniards carry out cash transactions, according to data from the European Central Bank (ECB), a figure that goes up to 91% according to a report from the Sounding Channel.

The payment method is the last step in the process of selling an online store. One in five users abandon the purchase for not finding the most comfortable way to pay for the item or service. To avoid this, the entrepreneur must know the preferences of his client.

A new era of electronic commerce is about to begin in Brazil and one of the main drivers of this transformation will be debit.

The President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, and the Minister of the Presidency, Rodolfo Piza, signed directive N ° 054-MP “Modernization of collection and payment mechanisms in public sector institutions”, addressed to the Central Administration and Decentralized

The provision instructs the State institutions to enable operational procedures that allow them to carry out all their collection and payment transactions by digital means, such as electronic transfers, payments with credit or debit cards, as well as mobile payments or any other product of electronic mobilization of money provided and supervised by the National Financial System.

“By enabling these procedures, public sector institutions will promote financial inclusion and the provision of electronic collection and payment options convenient for citizens,” explains the guideline.

“We are taking a fundamental step so that citizens have more options to make their transactions with public institutions, which satisfy their collection and payment needs in safer, more efficient and convenient conditions. This is an important dimension of our strategy to boost digital government, ”explained President Alvarado.

The president of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Cubero, stressed the importance of public sector institutions “digitizing their collection and payment mechanisms so that citizens, especially the most disadvantaged, can reduce costs and risks in their transactions . This will allow an increase in the penetration of banking services and financial inclusion, and a reduction in the use of cash in the economy, with real gains for the population. ”

Coordinating Entity The guideline instructs the Central Bank to coordinate, advise, accompany and evaluate the projects formulated by the institutions for the modernization of their collection and payment infrastructures. In addition, you must submit a semi-annual progress report to the Governing Council.

Public sector entities must submit to the BCCR, within six months following the entry into force of the guideline, a work plan for updating their collection and payment systems, complying with good practices in the administration of Projects.

Execution time. The institutions will have a maximum term of five years for the execution of all the actions that determine the modernization of their transaction mechanisms. Cases that require an extension of the term must be approved by the Central Bank, after justification by the corresponding institution.

The guideline is given in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, signed by the State, which establishes the goal of “strengthening the capacity of institutions to promote and expand access to banking, financial and insurance services for all “

In its report published on July 10, notes that eCommerce purchases in Mexico made with credit and debit cards accounted for 10.4% of the total operations made with these products during this first quarter.

Are cashierless stores the future of retail? Amazon Go put the retail industry on notice in early 2017 when it opened its first cashierless store to the public. Since then, a host of competitors have emerged.

This year, it is expected that more than 155 million people in Latin America make their purchases through the Internet, reaching a turnover of more than 64,400 million dollars during 2019. The previous one is one of the figures that BlackSip forecasts with the support of Statista and Euromonitor.