Surging consumer demand for real-time, seamless – and cost-effective – payments have catapulted Pix and similar account-based transfer services to record adoption rates, establishing them as the fastest-growing payment methods for online purchases in emerging markets.
Pix, Brazil’s instant payment system, leads with projected growth of 35% per year by 2027. UPI (India), PSE (Colombia), mobile money (Kenya, Nigeria and other African countries), as well as digital wallets (across emerging markets) are all also expected to grow annually by 16% to 20% through 2027.
The projections, from Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), are featured in the new edition of Beyond Borders, EBANX’s annual comprehensive study on the digital market and payment trends in emerging economies. The business intelligence report offers an in-depth analysis of online consumption patterns in Latin America, Africa and India – key regions driving the future of the global digital economy.
Click here to access the full Beyond Borders 2025 report for free: http://bit.ly/EBANXBeyondBorders2025
“Emerging markets are leading the global shift towards real-time payments, with innovations that match their populations’ demands for speed and convenience,” says João Del Valle, CEO and Co-founder of EBANX. “This results from an irreversible trend in the payments industry: the development of solutions completely adapted to local consumer behaviour. And our report shows how this is taking place.”
Pix exemplifies this transformation pointed out by Del Valle, with a new feature scheduled to be launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in mid-2025. “Pix Automático has the potential to reshape Brazil’s digital market,” he says.
The highly anticipated feature of Pix will enable automated recurring transactions through Brazil’s instant payment system, bringing a whole new customer base to services such as streaming platforms, SaaS, app subscriptions, e-learning, social media, gaming, and more.
Exclusive projections from Beyond Borders indicate that Pix Automático could unlock more than $30 billion in online recurring payments within two years, a significant volume for a market dominated by credit cards that currently moves USD 50 billion annually in Brazil. The report also estimates that the new feature will account for 12% of all Pix online transactions by 2027.
“When one payment method gains traction, it creates a ripple effect that elevates the entire ecosystem,” adds Del Valle. “The rise of Pix is not an isolated phenomenon, and we are also witnessing exponential expansion with other types of account-based transactions.”
The power of credit card
While alternative payment methods are gaining ground in rising economies, card issuers have been investing in new features and user experience improvements and have driven debit cards to be the second fastest growing payment tool globally, expanding at a 24% pace per year by 2027.
These investments not only strengthened the loyalty of existing customers, but also attracted a new base of consumers seeking financial solutions more aligned with their digital lifestyle. As a result, credit cards remain the leading payment method in e-commerce in many emerging markets and are expected to continue to grow, at a 13% year rate by 2027.
“Credit cards remain highly relevant for digital commerce. Fintechs and neo-banks have expanded access to credit through innovative solutions aligned with the demands and needs of consumers,” explains Del Valle.
Among the innovations highlighted in the report are new security features such as account updater (updating card information automatically for seamless transactions), card on file (storing card information for future transactions), and 3DS (a security protocol that verifies the cardholder’s identity).
EBANX’s report also indicates that, in rising markets, credit cards continue to play a dominant role in sectors such as streaming, SaaS, gaming, and travel. They account for 51% to 77% of all e-commerce purchases in these verticals across emerging economies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. As Beyond Borders points out, credit card transaction volumes are not dropping. With increased digital and financial inclusion in emerging regions, the overall payments market has expanded significantly.
“Digital payments have taken over what was once dominated by cash, and this shift has been driven by Latin America, Africa, and Asia,” Del Valle states. “There is ample potential for merchants, financial institutions, and other players to benefit from all the payment innovations emerging from rising economies,” he concludes.
