Digital payments are adjusted by shortening the distance compared to the use of cash. According to CredibanCo, one of the low-value payment systems operating in the country, in the first four months of this year, a turnover of 29 billion pesos occurred through the so-called digital payments in businesses, which represented a variation of 20 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, with the average ‘ticket’ being 153,000 pesos.
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During this period, credit card payments increased by 28 percent, which represented 58 percent of billing, 4 percentage points more than a year ago, while debit grew 11 percent.
E-commerce in the country continues to grow at relevant rates; between January and April it rose 29 percent and gained 2 percentage points, thus representing 27 percent of all billing, CredibanCo said.
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The entity added that the remaining 73 percent of the operations were carried out in person, increasing by 17 percent. Of the face-to-face purchases, 73 percent were made at the CredibanCo dataphones under the contactless modality (contactless payments), allowing a better experience for the user by reducing payment times at the register and improving the acceptance rate.
“The dynamics of growth and adoption of electronic payments by Colombians has evolved in a very positive way for the country, which challenges us every day to promote electronic payments and innovate with solutions that respond to the trends that move the world, reducing the use of cash, promoting formalization, financial inclusion and the development of the country”, said Ricardo Zambrano, president of CredibanCo,
The segments with the most growth at the national level were: airlines with 72 percent; followed by department stores with 48 percent, hotels with 42 percent, restaurants with 41 percent and insurance with 37 percent. In addition, the payment network also highlighted the growth in billing of foreigners buying in Colombia with a rate of 64 percent.
The CredibanCo report also shows how these payments behave on some special dates. For example, Easter Week had a positive balance, representing 27 percent of total sales for the month and a growth of 26 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
For his part, The cities that grew the most in billing that same week were Bogotá with 33 percent and Medellín with 28 percent. And the category with the highest growth rate during the month of April was airlines, with 120 percent, compared to the same month in 2022.
