Some neighborhood stores also began to integrate card payment or QR codes to deal with Oxxo, which has become the main banking correspondent in the country and the place where users can pay for countless services.
Cuauhtémoc Rivera, president of the National Alliance of Small Merchants (ANPEC), points out that the use of electronic payments has begun to become popular among small businesses, such as shops, pharmacies or inns, whose average ticket is around 200 pesos.
“The less sophisticated terminals are the ones that have been more successful, since people adapt better to them due to their ease of use. Although 20% of businesses accept cards, only 27% of sales are made through this method of payment,” says Rivera.
Agustín López, who runs a store on the corner of Mascagni and Lerdo, in the San Simón Tolnahuac neighborhood, chose to add this service to prevent his customers from preferring to buy at the convenience store that is a few meters away. “I don’t know how many pay with a card, but those who pay like this buy more. If they come for milk, they also take it to make a sandwich or the dog’s croquettes, ”he says.
In another store a few steps away, the administrator says that he bought the Mercado Pago terminal, but since the platform made some charges that he did not consider, he preferred not to use it anymore. “Then they wanted to pay me 15 pesos with the card and it didn’t suit me. We put a minimum purchase of 50 pesos, but (Mercado Pago) discounted my balance and I didn’t even know why. We better not use it anymore, ”says the administrator, who preferred not to give his name.
Alejandra Escalante, director of Expo Tendero, attributes the failure in the efforts to digitize payments to the lack of clear information for small merchants. “The important thing is to develop the shopkeepers so that the stores can endure and adopt new technologies according to the needs of the market,” she says.
Escalante mentions that between three and four stores close when a convenience store comes to the area.
Rivera acknowledges that there are still obstacles before electronic payments become widespread in small businesses, such as informal employment that is still paid in cash. In addition, the fear of hacking and information theft when using digital media persists, as well as the lack of banking in small businesses.
The representative of small businesses highlights that only two out of ten businesses currently have the option of digital payments.