Visa Inc., through its strategic consulting area, Visa Consulting & Analytics, presented an analysis of the situation of municipalities in the Dominican Republic regarding their level of preparation for the adoption and acceptance of digital payments. The analysis titled “Maturity index for the adoption of electronic payments”presents an unprecedented mapping that groups 158 municipalities in 14 provinces of the country into four levels of development: advanced, in transition, emerging and incipient.
“At Visa we assume the commitment to integrate more and more excluded people and populations to the benefits of electronic payments, advanced technology and security, to promote the well-being and prosperity of communities,” said Sofía Antor, general manager of Visa in the Republic Dominican. “Without a doubt, the maturity index for the adoption of electronic payments is an important tool that shows the reality of each market and the opportunities to increase the financial and digital inclusion of the population,” she specified.
“The maturity index for the adoption of electronic payments” relies on sources of information from Visa and also public data to group the available information in four dimensions (demographic, infrastructure, issuance and acceptance) and generate a unique index. The data considered includes information such as the number of transactions and volumes of digital payments made by city dwellers, number of debit and credit cards issued, quality of infrastructure that impacts the availability of electronic payments in cities, and demographic information such as socioeconomic level. and academic degree.
Based on these data and using a statistical methodology, the 158 municipalities in the Dominican Republic were grouped into four levels according to their degree of maturity for the adoption of electronic payments:
- Advanced: this level includes those municipalities where the electronic payment system is robust. 3% of the country’s municipalities are in this category, among which are: National District, Santiago, Constanza, Higüey, Jarabacoa and La Vega.
- In transition: This level includes municipalities in which the electronic payment system is being developed, in which 20% of the country’s municipalities are located. Among them are: Santo Domingo Norte, Puerto Plata, San Rafael del Yuna, Santo Domingo Este, Jarabacoa, San Cristóbal, San Pedro de Macorís and Bonao.
- Emerging: The municipalities included in this level show an underdeveloped electronic payment system with a low adoption rate. In the Dominican Republic, 25% of the municipalities are at this level.
- Incipients: at this level, the electronic payment system is not developed. In the Dominican Republic, 53% of the country is in this category.
In addition to identifying the level of maturity by municipality, the development of the Index makes it possible to quantify the opportunity to reach businesses that do not yet accept card payments, in order to prioritize and geographically focus efforts to increase acceptance. “This study shows the growth in the volume of Visa payment acquired per inhabitant, which in the advanced segment reached 78% in the country, while offering the opportunity for emerging municipalities to move to a transition level contributing to development and prosperity of the economy”, added Antor.
The benefits of increasing the use of electronic means of payment encourage the growth of all those who participate in the ecosystem and this index shows the opportunities to focus efforts in different areas of the country for the benefit of consumers, companies and governments, and to help close technology gaps and foster digital inclusion on a larger scale.
Methodology
To carry out this study, information available on VisaNet with a cut-off in December 2021 was combined with available public information that includes Census Data by Household, Census 2010, National Registry of Establishments ONE, Banking Map of the Dominican Republic from the Superintendency of Banks, and Statistical Indicators by INDOTEL Provinces and Municipalities, explains the company.