Latin America’s financial landscape continues its digital transformation as digital payments rapidly displace traditional cash transactions, signaling a new era for commerce and financial inclusion.
A recent PYMNTS Intelligence report titled, “Digital Payments Reshape Commerce Across Latin America,” a collaboration with Galileo Financial Technologies, details how digital payment methods are surging in popularity across the region, now on the verge of displacing traditional options like cash. This shift is fundamentally reshaping commerce and financial access, with consumers and businesses increasingly favoring mobile wallets, real-time transfers and other digital tools. Mobile devices are fast becoming the preferred means for payments, revolutionizing purchasing behaviors and actively promoting financial inclusion. Instant payments are rapidly becoming a standard expectation, driven by both government initiatives, such as Brazil’s Pix, and private FinTech innovations like MODO in Argentina.
The comprehensive analysis highlights Latin America as a hot spot for innovation, with digital wallets, account-to-account (A2A) transfers, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) solutions gaining significant traction. The report projects a dramatic shift, with digital payments expected to account for two-thirds of the region’s eCommerce transaction value and nearly half of its point-of-sale (POS) value by 2030. This anticipated growth underscores a decade-long plummet in cash usage, signaling a decisive move toward digital-first transactions across the continent.
Key findings from the report include:
- Digital payment adoption is rapidly displacing cash, with significant projected growth. In 2024, digital payments constituted 48% of eCommerce transaction value and 30% of POS transaction value in Latin America. These figures represent a substantial rise from 14% and 2% respectively in 2014. Experts anticipate these shares to grow further to 66% of online purchase value and 49% of in-store transaction value by 2030. Concurrently, the share of in-store cash transactions has sharply declined from 67% in 2014 to 25% in 2024, projected to fall to just 17% by 2030.
- Brazil’s Pix real-time payment system demonstrates unprecedented growth. Pix processed 64 billion transactions in 2024, a 53% year-over-year increase, surpassing the combined total of debit and credit card transactions by 80%. By the end of 2024, Pix was processing over 6 billion transactions per month.
- The FinTech sector in Latin America is expanding at a blistering pace. As of 2024, 3,069 FinTechs are operating across 26 countries in the region, a sharp increase from 703 FinTechs in 18 countries in 2017. This growth is largely attributed to FinTechs addressing previously underserved customer segments, offering access to financial products and services that were previously unavailable.
Beyond these impressive statistics, the report emphasizes how digital payments are profoundly promoting financial inclusion across Latin America, particularly for unbanked populations and small businesses, by reducing reliance on traditional banking infrastructure. Mobile phone penetration, exceeding 70% in the region, is closely linked to the consumer adoption of fast payment systems such as Pix and Mexico’s CoDi.
Governments are pivotal in this revolution through pro-FinTech regulations, digitized subsidy payments, and the establishment of instant payment systems, alongside efforts to expand internet and mobile data access to 65% of the population by the close of 2023. While challenges like uneven infrastructure in rural areas and regulatory hurdles persist, the report underscores the necessity for sustained investment, regulatory harmonization, and robust public-private partnerships to ensure accessible, affordable and interoperable digital solutions for long-term success.
“The acceleration of digital payments across Latin America is more than a trend — it’s a transformation,” said Tory Jackson, head of Business Development and Strategy for Latin America at Galileo. “By combining mobile-first innovation with inclusive financial infrastructure, the region is not only closing access gaps but redefining what modern commerce looks like.”
