At a regional level, nearly 16 million people are looking to purchase financial services online. Of this group of consumers, approximately 11% are exploring options for acquiring a credit card.
The interactive information system developed by CentralAmericaData, monitors in real time the changes in consumer habits in all markets of the region, with fundamental information to understand the new commercial environment that has emerged in an accelerated manner.
In the first half of 2014 ATMs will be adapted to the new technology which was first incorporated in the country in October last year.
S21.com.gt reports: "After various issuers of credit and debit cards began incorporating the chip to improve safety and avoid credit card cloning, the banking system needs to work on changing ATM's so that they can read these new cards".
Total online purchases made in 2012, which exceeded 500,000 transactions, were up 7% on those registered in 2011.
Courier companies were surprised by the figures, which exceeded their expectations. "The market is healthy and growing each year," said Jorge Gomez, General Manager of TransExpress.
"According to Gomez, 2012 showed an annual growth of 17%, compared to the more than 400,000 transactions recorded in 2011, but the biggest move of the year came during the last week of November with Black Friday (last 23 November), and continued throughout December, peaking right at the end of the year.
Visa has announced it will begin in Guatemala the process of eliminating magnetic stripe cards and replacing them with ones that have chips.
Guatemalan financial institutions are working on building the infrastructure necessary to meet this new technology, said the executive director of Visa Central America, Roger Sanchez. The delivery of the first chip card is scheduled for early next year.
Visa Payments and Transfers is a system that allows transferring funds or making payments from cell phones using debit or credit cards.
Visa Inc. has developed a technology for making payments and debit card and credit transactions from phones that will be used in Guatemala for the first time in Latin America.
This is the platform Visa Payments and Transfers, through which Visa customers can make transfers from their cell phones with credit or debit cards in order to make payments, send funds to other users and to receive international remittances, said Roberto Gonzalez, director of business development for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean to elPeriodico.com.gt.
From the second quarter the company will introduce a project to provide financial services through cell phones.
Brayan Peralta, CEO of remittance products for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean, said that through this service the benefits of the financial system will be extended for reciept of remittances.
"Through the project ‘Visa Giro’ (wire transfers) the firm wants to take advantage of the growth in money being sent to families, by offering innovative services to send and receive money", said the manager to Prensalibre.com.
Visa has launched an advertising campaign fostering the usage of debit cards in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Usage of Visa debit cards has grown 33% in the last five years. To take advantage of this movement, Visa has launched a new advertising campaign focused specifically on debit cards, called "yo paGO" ("I PAY"). It is part of its "More people GO with Visa" campaign, and aims to tell consumers the benefits of using debit cards over cash.
MasterCard is betting on the development of prepaid cards not just in Panama but in all of Latin America.
Credit and debit cards have been popular in Panama's market, where most of the population has access to banking services.
The director of sales and product delivery for MasterCard, Max Chion, says there's a long road to travel in the development of new products for the mass market.