The fight over the future of global payments
Digital payments have transformed domestic finance. Now competition is going global
OVER THE past two decades the ways people pay, receive and transfer money have changed beyond recognition. The revolution began in 2007 when m-pesa made it possible for Kenyans to make payments with a text message. In 2011 Alipay launched payment-by-qr-code in China, a system that has all but replaced cash in cities. Since then India’s state-led Unified Payments Interface (upi) and Brazil’s Pix have vastly widened access to the financial system among the poor. As our special report explains, globally the use of notes and coins has been cut by a third, e-commerce has boomed and life without digital payments has become unimaginable.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “A fight among three”
From the May 20th 2023 edition
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