In the fastest-growing consumer markets, most shoppers don’t have a credit card. UPI, Pix and local card rails are shaping the next wave of online buyers.
This was a great overview of some current trends. I didn't realize about many of these trends, because here in Austria, most people are into cash and debit cards. Since I am from the USA, I'm still used to the credit-card-heavy lifestyle, but having lived abroad a while now I didn't know that the younger generations aren't using credit cards.
I imagine there will be a credit aspect to these new systems, beyond installments. I.e. folks in North America are still going to be buying things on credit, even without a card.
With Pix, I have never been to Brazil, but many people I know have, and they all complain you can't use it without a local bank account. I understand that it's easy to use and at no-cost because the central bank set it up and basically forced most of the banks to comply, but I also worry that one day they'll start shutting people out of the system for saying the wrong thing.
Great comments. I have a Brazilian friend in London and when he visited Brazil recently he just used his UK Revolut card rather than use Pix as his money was then taken from his UK account — he said he never had problems using card. So the interesting thing in Brazil is that most places take cards it’s just that the consumer preference locally has gone towards Pix.
Contrast this with India and some other markets I’ve experienced like Malaysia and Indonesia where smaller merchants may offer only the local payment option via QR code and no card payments. So ideally it’s great when multiple options are offered so travelers and other users can pick what payment option suits them best.
Regarding North America wanting credit even if they don’t use cards we can see this in the popularity of Klarna, Affirm, PayPal credit and other things like this. It’ll be interesting to see if younger cohorts move more to cards over time — in line with the existing trends — or if these non traditional credit products continue to evolve and hold market share.
This was a great overview of some current trends. I didn't realize about many of these trends, because here in Austria, most people are into cash and debit cards. Since I am from the USA, I'm still used to the credit-card-heavy lifestyle, but having lived abroad a while now I didn't know that the younger generations aren't using credit cards.
I imagine there will be a credit aspect to these new systems, beyond installments. I.e. folks in North America are still going to be buying things on credit, even without a card.
With Pix, I have never been to Brazil, but many people I know have, and they all complain you can't use it without a local bank account. I understand that it's easy to use and at no-cost because the central bank set it up and basically forced most of the banks to comply, but I also worry that one day they'll start shutting people out of the system for saying the wrong thing.
Great comments. I have a Brazilian friend in London and when he visited Brazil recently he just used his UK Revolut card rather than use Pix as his money was then taken from his UK account — he said he never had problems using card. So the interesting thing in Brazil is that most places take cards it’s just that the consumer preference locally has gone towards Pix.
Contrast this with India and some other markets I’ve experienced like Malaysia and Indonesia where smaller merchants may offer only the local payment option via QR code and no card payments. So ideally it’s great when multiple options are offered so travelers and other users can pick what payment option suits them best.
Regarding North America wanting credit even if they don’t use cards we can see this in the popularity of Klarna, Affirm, PayPal credit and other things like this. It’ll be interesting to see if younger cohorts move more to cards over time — in line with the existing trends — or if these non traditional credit products continue to evolve and hold market share.