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March 13, 2023 • Issue 23:03:01

Latin America, awakening ecommerce giant

Daniel Passarelli, executive managing director for LATAM
at Worldline Digital Commerce, noted that online shopping
was siphoning customers away from physical stores even
before the pandemic, but COVID-19 pushed consumers to
ecommerce, which is scaling in Argentina, Brazil, Chile
and Mexico.
"Factors fueling this growth include increased domestic
and cross-border spending, greater market penetration of
digital goods and a wider acceptance of digital payments
with particular emphasis on investment from retail banks
in digital technologies such as mobile apps and eWallets,"
he said. "For example, the adoption of the instant payment
system, Pix, has brought enhanced levels of digital access
and inclusion to Brazil, enjoying a user base of over 130
million, and a penetration rate of 75 percent, almost double
By Dale S. Laszig that of credit cards."
atin America has emerged as a global ecom- Alexandre Gomes, director of operations for Sensedia in
merce leader, according to recent reports. Statista Latin America, pointed out that the pandemic helped accel-
expects the region's ecommerce sales to reach $700 erate digital channels and integrate them with traditional
L billion by 2025. A June 2022 Paysafe study, Lost channels.
in Translation: Consumer Payment Trends 2022: Navigating
online payments in the age of uncertainty, found 63.5 million "This integration involves API platforms that protect enter-
Brazilian consumers use neobanks. prise systems, bring security to application transactions,
perform real-time monitoring work, track customer and
To further understand this fast-growing market, The Green partner transactions and bring scalability by having the
Sheet interviewed payments leaders whose enterprises are ability to process around 1,000 transactions per second," he
shaping Latin American commerce, cybersecurity, paytech said, adding that enterprises can leverage API-driven tech-
and financial services. nologies to react quickly to market demands and create a
consistent customer experience across channels.
Agile digital transformation
Emerging markets may be late to digital commerce, but
some experts see this timing as a virtue. Jason Howard,
CEO at Caf, a digital identity solutions provider, noted de- Contributed articles inside by:
veloping countries, unburdened by legacy infrastructure,
are free to innovate.
Natasa Cvijanovic .................................................................................28
"In markets where the financial infrastructure is many
decades or even centuries old, it can be hard to promote Adam Atlas ..............................................................................................30
change," he said. "But here most financial institutions are Darin Horrocks ......................................................................................32
working with newer technology and can embrace digital
innovation."

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