Pushing to dethrone the use of cash locally, Mastercard said it continues to work towards bringing more solutions that will help to speed up the digital transformation agenda across Jamaica’s payment ecosystem.

Encouraged by the shift in customer behaviour and a fertile ground for digital payment growth, the company said that while cash continues to dominate payment preference in the local market — a November 2023 study done also shows that there continues to be a growing preference for debit cards as well as an increasing adoption of digital wallets.

“Debit and credit cards are the preferred digital payment method in Jamaica, with over 34 per cent of those surveyed using them for in-store purchases, and 57 per cent for online purchases. Digital wallets follow (particularly bank wallets) with 15 per cent of Jamaicans preferring to use digital wallets to pay in-store, and 23 per cent to pay online, indicating a clear advance in financial digitalisation and the adoption of new digital payment methods,” Mastercard said in its report on the findings.

The company said that with Jamaica being one of the most banked populations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), also having growing access to Internet services, it likewise believes there is a vast opportunity for the expansion of digital services.

In encouraging the steady growth of digital payments, Mastercard said it will continue to prioritise personalisation as it offers tailored solutions for the most lagging segments of the population. As it also seeks to become more focused on credit product development, the reorientation of financial education along with greater collaboration among the private and public sectors, it said remains high among the measures being engaged to promote the adoption of digital payment methods across Jamaica and the wider region.

Mastercard said it has doubled the number of locations accepting its cards over the past five years, now boasting over 100 million points of sale worldwide. In 2022, commercial and credit card payments represented approximately 13 per cent of gross dollar value (GDV) for the company, 24 per cent above that of the previous year.

“Modernising the accounts payable ecosystem eases cash flow and streamlines operations for businesses of all sizes and at Mastercard we’re bringing the simplicity and security of digital payments to more commercial points of sale, including travel and entertainment, health care, purchasing, fleet, and small businesses,” the company said.

Propelled by the three pillars — inclusion, trust and innovation — the payments giant said that as it takes steps to advance current payment flows, the expansion of digital capabilities backed by increased levels of security, convenience, and choice, also continues to be very instrumental in creating unparalleled experiences for customers.

With digitised remittance and disbursements, customers, it said, are now more than ever empowered to move money quickly and safely to billions of endpoints across cities and borders.

“Our product innovations combined with the scale of Mastercard’s network deepen the power of digital to address key needs in the marketplace. Our capabilities and partnerships in remittances and disbursements alone put 95 per cent of the world’s banked population within our reach. This type of access enables consumers, businesses, governments, and banks around the globe to pay and get paid simply, safely, and seamlessly,” the payments behemoth said.

Driven by its implementation of a holistic cyber-security strategy, the company said it can also now focus on assessing, prioritising, and addressing risks more efficiently.

“We have designed and launched the most advanced solutions to create a simple, safe, and intuitive consumer experience and with the lowest level of friction. As a result, our consumers in the payments ecosystem, as well as the customers of our cybersecurity and intelligence products and services, can interact digitally with confidence and peace of mind, without having to choose between convenience or security,” the company noted.

Through cutting-edge technology and increased investments in ‘standout’ products and services such as NuDetect, RiskRecon and CyberQuant, the company said it continues to deal with potential cyber-security concerns.

“The evolution toward an always-on, digital-first society continues to accelerate and heighten our expectations. We are fuelling this innovation by thinking and acting beyond retail payments and across borders. Through our investments and partnerships, we are taking the same seamless experience people have come to expect at checkout — bringing it to traditionally slow and complex transactions of all kinds,” Mastercard added.