Brazil-based online wallet provider PicPay recently revealed that it has surpassed 20 million clients as of May 2020.
As reported by Reuters, the company said that it achieved the milestone sooner than it had initially expected.
PicPay was aiming to hit the goal by December 2020, however, it seems that the global COVID-19 outbreak, nationwide lockdowns, and social distancing measures have led to the increased adoption of various virtual platforms and solutions including digital payments and contactless payments methods.
Gueitiro Genso, CEO at PicPay, stated that the number of PicPay accounts had increased 6x, as thousands of merchants have been forced to shut down their operations in Brazil since March 2020.
Bars and restaurants in Brazil (and worldwide) have been working with delivery service providers, Genso confirmed. He said that these businesses have now been signing up for various digital services including payment processing.
Services that mostly depend on in-store purchases like StoneCo have been struggling, as they’ve experienced a significant decline in transaction activity, which has forced them to lay off many workers, Reuters revealed.
A recent Coronavirus Business Recovery Report co-authored by American Express and PYMNTS noted that the move or transition to digital platforms has included almost every type of service, even fitness and travel-related plans (most of which are currently on hold).
Digital wallets may be useful but merchants must also support more traditional credit card payment systems, because many customers might not be ready to use all-digital platforms just yet, the report suggested.
Brazil seems to have been affected the most from COVID-19 compared to other South American nations. There have been nearly 180,000 reported Coronavirus cases and around 12,500 deaths (at time of writing).
Notably, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had claimed in early April 2020 that the pandemic was just “a little flu,” and described media coverage as “hysteria.”