Since the appearance of COVID-19 in Brazil, social and economic relations were already moving towards digitalization. But now, this process may scale up faster, have according to Valor. Technologies such as QR Code and approximation, NFC (Near Field Communication), are bets for contactless payment technologies.

Unofficial market figures reported by Valor point to 10 million POS operating in the country. There are just over 170,000 ATMs. Cards (credit and debit) handled BRL 1.84 trillion in 2019. Non-face-to-face purchases represent only 30% of this total, according to Abecs, an entity that represents electronic payment companies.

Even so, Brazil can expect QR Code and NFC solutions to grow the most in the coming months. According to Frank Meylan, leading partner of KPMG in matters in this area, the curve for adopting payment by approximation is still slow. “Many shopkeepers were unaware of this functionality,” he told Valor. In his view, Brazil is moving towards developing niche markets, which will gradually change. “But it is a change without return”, he says. For him, there is a great effort by the banks of robotization and process automation.