Visa: 10% of SMEs in AL have a cryptocurrency portfolio

Cryptocurrencies in SMEs help make the business more agile.

Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in Latin America are also joining cryptocurrencies, especially Argentine, Brazilian and Colombian ones, in that order, according to Visa. The company’s study shows that 10% of these companies are using digital currency wallets. Most of them are in retail, especially in electronics and apparel.

In addition, SMEs that receive international payments, for example, are twice as likely to receive cryptocurrency as those that make only domestic sales, says Visa. This indicates how cryptos are advancing in this segment, as remitting money in the conventional way is often expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, SMEs are embracing non-traditional financial services.

For the study, consumers and companies from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala and Peru were interviewed. The focus of the survey “Faster Payments Landscape in Latin America” was to identify barriers to faster payments in the region.

One of the information that emerged from the interviews was that 60% of consumers and SMEs would like to adopt faster payment methods. And 80% of people interviewed find the emergence of more agile methods a very attractive facility. This is what especially young and low-income consumers think.

And nearly half of SMEs (52%) say they would likely adopt more agile means of payment if they had that option. According to Visa, faster payments would help more than half of SMEs increase their financial resilience. That’s because 41% would have improved cash flow and 36% could pay suppliers more regularly.

Cryptocurrencies help speed up, says Visa

“Fast access to money for people and companies has become essential for maintaining conditions for survival”, comments Romina Seltzer, senior vice president of Products and Innovation for the Visa Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The trend towards faster payments in Latin America has been growing rapidly, which can help drive more efficient, continuous and digital-first ways for workers, businesses and consumers to access cash,” added the executive.

The company gives as an example Visa, a case developed with Niubiz and TuSueldoYa!. Employees can receive payment of their salaries with Visa Direct per days worked. This is even what blockchain technology, for example, can allow with smart contracts.

The interviews took place with 2,765 consumers over the age of 18 who have a debit card and have received some type of payment in the last 12 months. In addition, they included 1,069 SMEs that received a payment from an acquirer or credit card processor, marketplace or lender in the past six months, and 30 paying institutions that made at least 10,000 payment transactions per month to individuals or SMEs.

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