Josefa Silva takes advantage of the few minutes of closed traffic lights, on a busy street in the central region of São Paulo, to sell sweets to drivers. At 66, she sneaks between vehicles when she sees a R$ 2 bill offered in exchange for a tablet — some days, it’s so difficult to have someone with cash that you can’t miss the sale, she says.
“I’ve been here for a little over a year and I feel that a lot of people don’t carry money anymore. I don’t have a cell phone with internet and, even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to use Pix and such things”, he says. Getting to sell was already difficult, now it’s become a crowd to find someone willing to pay with pennies.
The expansion of electronic means for payments has facilitated the daily lives of many Brazilians. Tools like Pix, which completes a year of operation this Tuesday (16), helped to popularize transfer operations that were previously restricted to higher-income consumers, such as TED and DOC, which presupposed disbursement of fees.
However, reinforce experts heard by Sheet, this advance has a side effect for the poorest — such as saleswoman Josefa.
As this layer of the population also suffers from digital exclusion, the increase in virtual transactions may even increase the financial exclusion of low-income groups, if it is not accompanied by adequate public policies in the area of technology.
Connection limitations, lack of mobile phones capable of supporting applications and advanced age are difficulties pointed out by users who are still unable to adopt tools such as Pix with ease.
Figures from the TIC Domicílios 2020 survey, carried out by the Internet Steering Committee in Brazil, show that most Brazilians who say they never use the internet have low education (72%), 60 years or more (43%), earn up to one. minimum wage (24%) and lives in rural areas (26%).
According to a study published in the middle of the year by Cemif/FGV (Centre for the Study of Microfinance and Financial Inclusion, Fundação Getulio Vargas), the impediments to the use of this tool by this portion of the population are the same that those with the right had to emergency aid (a benefit paid to the poorest during the pandemic) and who were unable to receive the resource, explains the coordinator of the institution, Lauro Gonzalez.
In 2020, there were 5.5 million Brazilians without a formal job, a bank account or regular access to the internet, according to a study by the Locomotiva Institute.
The potential gains of Pix and Open Banking are numerous, but one of the barriers is precisely the digital divide, says Gonzalez. “People, especially low-income ones, have to overcome obstacles such as poor connections, data packets that are often too expensive and that run out quickly, and old cell phones that don’t support app downloads.”
In addition to the supply issues, many users also have to deal with the complexity in handling and using certain applications. “In some cases, the structural problem of low formal education, text comprehension and mathematics ends up creating new barriers.”
In the case of artist Jorge Olaya, 50, the biggest difficulty in using technology as a means of payment is the lack of connectivity. Performing in São Paulo subway cars since the beginning of the pandemic, the Peruvian even has a smartphone with the app installed to receive tips, but lack resources to maintain a better internet package.
“I’ve been working for more than 20 years with presentations and I had to start playing in the streets, with the closing of bars and restaurants, due to the pandemic. Most have even reopened, but the movement is weaker than before and I depend on this complement in the Subway.”
Maurício de Almeida Prado, director of Plano CDE, reinforces that although the acceptance and use of Pix has been a surprise, mainly due to the speed with which the tool has become popular, the use of technology needs to grow in a way that does not reinforce inequalities.
“In general terms, Pix is more of an instrument of financial inclusion than of exclusion, but we must not forget this public without regular access to new means of payment, so as not to create new excluded people.”
Gonzalez adds that digital and financial exclusions tend to get closer and closer in the coming years, as the possibility of working in financial services has gone far beyond traditional institutions and several technology companies already offer financial services, such as Facebook and WhatsApp.
“Initiatives that try to think about increasing internet coverage in the country —and the quality of this coverage, with more widespread Wi-Fi services— have become even more relevant. Another important action would be to force companies to create data packages in that the use of financial services is not charged to customers.”
“Digital banks are already entering favelas and this is a niche that still needs to be discovered by a greater number of companies. Pix, in this case, can be a great facilitator, given that the high value of traditional payment methods limited inclusion But the tool doesn’t solve all the problems,” says Prado.
He adds that it makes sense for the government to invest in digital tools, to have less paper money circulating and a better understanding of the informal economy. “If, on the one hand, we see new forms of coup emerging, over time, Pix will also help to understand the paths of money and catch irregularities. It is only necessary to democratize access.”
According to the Central Bank, in addition to being a low-cost, safe instrument that can be used in the most varied transfer and purchase situations, it is necessary to ensure that Pix is accessible even to those with specific needs.
“The Central Bank has defined accessibility guidelines for the user experience. Additionally, the BC acts as an inductor for the adoption of solutions, so that institutions can offer Pix in an inclusive way. Some examples include the integration of applications to native cell phone readers , the use of avatars or explanatory videos about Pix, the use of a virtual assistant in Libras, among others.”
In late October, BC also began implementing the third phase of open banking, paving the way for consumers to make Pix payments through companies called payment initiators, allowing them to make virtual purchases without opening a bank application.
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