He emphasizes that informality is not a challenge but an opportunity to expand the use of digital channels and cards
The Dominican Republic is the third country in Latin America with the highest adoption of daily-use debit cards, after Chile and Uruguay. 46% of Dominicans use debit cards for their daily purchases according to a Mastercard survey.
Despite these numbers, Tomás Alonso, country manager for Dominican Republic and Haiti on Mastercard He stressed that there is still a lot of room for growth, since 85% of the average Dominican family’s transactions are still in cash.
He said that although there is an informality in business and commerce of over 50%, they see it more as a challenge than as a great opportunity to increase the use of digital channels and the use of cards as payment methods because they are safe, fast, convenient and frictionless.
He believes that more education is needed on the subject in order to change the preferences of Dominican consumers.
Other data revealed by the survey is that cards are the most preferred digital payment method in the Dominican Republic, as more than 63% of Dominicans surveyed prefer to pay with credit and debit cards online, while 56% prefer them for purchases in physical stores.
According to the Mastercard study, 99% of Dominicans surveyed feel comfortable or very comfortable using new technologies, while 80% are willing to try new payment methods.
Other data shows that 94% responded that security is important or very important when choosing how to pay online; 55% always choose the most secure payment method for online purchases.
And for the people of Generation X (59%), Millennials (60%) and Gen Z (54%) Convenience influences your choice of payment method.
