A global financial services company, MasterCard Credit Card, says 82% of Latin America and Caribbean consumers want cryptocurrency-related functions to be directly available through traditional financial institutions (TradFi).
The results come from card New Payments Index 2022 survey conducted between March and April this year to study consumer behavior with new payment methods.
The Crypto industry is slowly growing around the world. Although many governments have banned digital currencies, many people are still adopting and trading with cryptocurrencies seeing the benefit and comfort it gives investors.
Cryptocurrency has become more popular since last year after NFTs became a digital craze. Big companies are also giving their consumers the option to make payments through cryptocurrencies like Tesla, which lets people buy cars through Dogecoin backed by Elon Musk.
Seeing the rising interest in cryptocurrencies, Mastercard decided to conduct a survey of its consumers to know their opinions on digital currencies. Cryptocurrency seems to be of interest to the company.
Survey results reveal Mastercard credit card usage
In an official press release, Mastercard credit card revealed the results from New Payments Index 2022. The company shared the survey had 35,000 participants around the world conducted in March and April of 2022. Mastercard released results from Latin America and the Caribbean participants to study consumer response to new digital payment methods.
According to the survey, over half the percentage of Latinos had already experienced cryptocurrency with 54% being confident with investing in crypto. The company also shared that “more than a third” of participants want flexibility with crypto in daily life transactions. In other words, people want traditional organizations and companies to let them buy things with crypto coins.
“More and more Latin Americans are showing interest in cryptocurrencies and want solutions that facilitate access to the crypto world,” said Walter Pimenta, executive vice president for credit card Latin America and the Caribbean.
The biggest surprise from this survey was consumers’ willingness to invest in crypto if backed by a trusted organization, 67% agree they will invest, and 69% would make payments with crypto.
TradFi consumers want crypto
Almost 82% of participants from the survey want traditional banks and financial companies to make “cryptocurrency-related” functions directly available for transactions.
This might be because many consumers still trust traditional finance more than digital one. The recent exploits and rugpulls in DeFi platforms might have convinced users to only trust TradFi since it’s a well-established industry compared to DeFi.
Based on the survey, 77% of consumers are willing to educate themselves about crypto and use them as a payment method, which shows people still have hopes for emerging digital currencies.
The study also revealed that Latinos are more flexible with adopting new payment methods compared to Europeans and Americans. 77% of Americans and 74% of Europeans prefer traditional payment methods, while 84% of Latinos have already used one new payment method and “are willing to use emerging methods such as biometrics, digital currencies, and QR code.”
Latin America seems to be more open to accepting the digital currency payment method than other countries, which can be a good start for Web3 startups and DeFi platforms.
Pimenta says, “The future of payments is already here. Increasingly Latin Americans are turning to technology to conduct their financial transactions and this trend is expected to continue to rise, with an overwhelming 95% planning to use a digital payment method in the coming year and 29% acknowledging having used less cash in the past year.”
What is the role of credit card in bringing emerging payment methods?
With the survey results, Mastercard has hinted at a possible expansion by adding emerging payment methods for consumers.
“At Mastercard credit card, we are designing these solutions to expand digital inclusion and strengthening alliances that guarantee operability and support,” says Pimenta.
Seeing the positive response from Latin America and the Caribbean, credit card might consider starting from this region first.
However, based on the survey, 95% of participants have expressed their intentions to adopt cryptocurrency by next year. This is a huge agreement from a global survey and also shows that Web3 is more likely to become a valuable industry in the coming years.
Following the survey, credit card is working on bringing innovation into their financial services by adding cryptocurrency as a mode of payment around the world. Although the company didn’t reveal a proper plan for it, the consumers can still hope for digital inclusion soon.
Future of crypto in TradFi
Mastercard’s survey shows that people are more than willing to adopt a new payment method if it is backed by a trusted organization. The people are more aligned with traditional finance because it is a proper system with secure transactions.
Although many DeFi platforms have proven to be trusted, they are nothing compared to traditional finance. However, the survey gives good news to all Web3 startups and companies, i.e., people acknowledge crypto as a legit payment method.
