VISA transactions booming in Latin America because of COVID-19 pandemic, Bitcoin also a viable digital payment option

By Selena On May 15, 2020

In Latin America, 13 million Visa Inc. cardholders made e-commerce transactions for the first time during the March quarter. That represented about two in 10 active Visa cardholders in the region. And it seems that many of these Latin American citizens are turning to digital payments in cash. Of course, Bitcoin is an indispensable solution for a part of users who have learned a lot about new technology.

VISA revealed a massive surge in digital payment growth in Latin America

VISA’s Chief Product Officer Jack Forestell stated:

“We see a massive acceleration toward e-commerce adoption,” Forestell said, as the pandemic catalyzes trends that were already budding in the payments industry.”

Jack Forestell, VISA’s Chief Product Officer

The momentum isn’t limited to Latin America. Visa saw an 18% rise in U.S. digital commerce spending during April, excluding the travel category, as face-to-face transactions fell 45%. The cause may come from the Coronavirus pandemic when people are unable to leave their homes, self-quarantine.

Moreover, the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend people around the globe to choose a contactless payment method for cash. Because cash is also one of the carriers of the pathogen at the start of the pandemic, but it was the lack of access to retail outlets at the point that forced this trend.

Besides, VISA has created a particular dispute-monitoring program amid the coronavirus outbreak that works with sellers and financial institutions to understand the terms of transactions at a time when Visa has seen a significant bump in disputes. Visa is also looking to simplify the guest-checkout process, which requires users to enter information into 23 fields during the average transaction. The company has converted 10,000 merchants that were using its Visa Checkout button over to a new click-to-play button that’s being used universally by the credit-card industry to speed up online checkout and validate buyer identities.

Bitcoin transactions are booming in Brazil, Argentina and the rest of Latin America

As AZCoin News reported, on May 10, 2020, according to Coin.dance, a record-breaking 50.59 million Argentine pesos were traded for Bitcoin for the week ending May 2, 2020, up 14% from 44.3 million pesos the previous week. The surge represents a 437% increase, year-over-year, for Bitcoin trading on the P2P platform.

Source: Coin.dance

This shows that the adoption of e-commerce and digital payment options has led to the adoption of Bitcoin and the spike in interest in cryptocurrencies in Latin America.

Previously, citizens without money in areas like El Salvador and Argentina were forced to use Bitcoin as an alternative to storing wealth, making cross-border payments, and paying for necessities. daily products. Contrary to what many people think Bitcoin is for the rich, for areas with inferior infrastructure, Bitcoin is an ideal choice.

Real world #Bitcoin transaction in mobile store 15 seconds. Quicker than cash (by the time you give change) and definitely quicker than Credit card. Rural village in El SALVADOR selling out of a van to people banks don’t want to serve. Forget buying coffee w/BTC. This is real pic.twitter.com/YOOo1mL6Hv

— Bitcoin Beach (@Bitcoinbeach) April 27, 2020

In particular, the reason for the use of explosive VISA cards in Latin America is also the reason for using Bitcoin. According to LocalBitcoins, interest in Bitcoin has risen sharply. In Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and other countries, local currencies tend to be increasingly converted into BTC.

However, most of the growth in the charts above is the pre-pandemic condition, so in the short term, these numbers only skyrocket. However, Bitcoin is still volatile as a speculative asset, and its unpredictable price volatility continues to pose a challenge to cash-strapped countries that are suffering from fiat failures and will likely also shortly. This can cause many people to stick with traditional digital payment methods, such as VISA cards until prices stabilize or start to increase steadily again.

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