Drivers of Digital Payment Adoption: Lessons from Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico

David Argente, Paula Gonzalez Alvarez, Esteban Méndez and Diana Van Patten

No 34280, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Digital payment platforms can displace cash and extend financial services to underserved populations, yet many adults worldwide remain unbanked. Leveraging granular microdata on individual transactions and user characteristics, we argue that broad cash substitution via peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms depends on a “rapid low income-gradient”, the speed at which adoption spreads from affluent early users to lower-income groups. In three Latin American cases, Brazil’s Pix, Costa Rica’s Sinpe Móvil, and Mexico’s CoDi, we document that low adoption costs, strong network effects, coordinated supply-side integration, and early awareness efforts enabled Pix and Sinpe Móvil to reach nearly all income segments within five years, whereas CoDi remains characterized by low usage and predominantly high-income adopters.

JEL-codes: E4 E5 O10 O2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg and nep-pay
Note: DEV EFG ME
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