Payment Friction Taps the Brakes on Digital Growth in Brazil

Brazil has become a global leader in mobile shopping adoption, with its consumers consistently demonstrating high engagement in digital commerce activities. The 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: Brazil edition, commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions and researched by PYMNTS Intelligence, reveals that 61% of Brazilian consumers used a mobile phone for their latest retail purchase, whether online or in-store.

This figure marks a 10% increase since 2022 and places Brazil among the top four countries surveyed globally, significantly outpacing traditional economies like the U.S. and U.K..

Yet, despite this impressive mobile-first shift, a significant obstacle is creating friction for nearly every transaction: payment processing issues, exacerbated by a pervasive reliance on manual data entry.

The report highlights a critical pain point: nearly all consumers in Brazil (99%) experienced at least one type of payment issue during their latest retail purchase. The primary culprit is payment processing errors, which affected 67% of transactions, with declined payments accounting for 63% of these issues. In stark contrast to the global average where 61% of purchases go smoothly, only 1.5% of Brazilian shoppers reported a completely seamless recent purchase. This pervasive friction represents a significant bottleneck for merchants seeking to capitalize on Brazil’s mobile-first market.

A key driver of this friction in online transactions is the unusually high rate of manual payment information entry. For their latest online purchase, 32% of Brazilian consumers manually entered their payment details. This is 1.5 times the global average of 21%. Manually inputting credit card numbers or other payment information is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, leading directly to customer frustration and, critically, lost sales.

The reliance on manual entry in Brazil is further underscored by the low adoption of stored payment credentials. Only 33% of Brazilian shoppers used stored credentials for their latest online purchase, a figure substantially below the survey-wide average of 54%.

Within this cohort, just 26% used credentials stored directly with the merchant, compared to 45% globally. This stark difference points to a significant missed opportunity for Brazilian retailers to streamline their checkout processes.

Why are Brazilian consumers hesitant to store their payment information? The report identifies data security and privacy concerns as the top barrier, cited by 60% of Brazilian shoppers. Trust in the merchant is also a major factor, coming in second at 30%, followed by worries about unexpected recurring charges at 26%.

Brazilian merchants are keenly aware of these challenges. More than 1 in 3 express high concern that their current payment systems will not meet future needs, and 7 in 10 are at least somewhat worried.

For merchants in Brazil, the message is clear: optimizing the payment process is crucial for growth and competitive advantage. To reduce manual entry and encourage the use of stored credentials, retailers must prioritize investing in technologies that guarantee data security and privacy. Building customer trust through transparent security practices and robust features is essential.

Offering more appealing and secure stored credential options can transform the checkout experience, making it faster and more convenient, which directly translates to fewer abandoned carts and increased sales. Partnering with banks or other third-party payment solution providers can offer the expertise and technology needed to navigate these complexities.

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