Today in Data: Bridging The Digital Payments Divide, Carefully

There is much evidence to suggest that the only acceptable pace for digitization in payments and commerce is faster. Disbursements, wherever one may find them, are almost always improved by speed. But while benefits like enhanced access and greater efficiency are unlocked,  the costs of speed are well-known as well. High-speed, low friction environments have the downside of boosting fraudster efforts nearly as well as they boost consumer efforts. And, of course, there are places, B2B payments notably, where the pace of change has lagged despite a desire to see otherwise.

$350: The cost of a packet of about 2,000 stolen ID documents on the dark web.

75 – 85 percent: Share of royalty payments independent photographers give to platforms like Shutterstock or Getty.

67 percent: Share of consumer payments made electronically.

64 percent: Share of B2B transactions still done by check.

51 percent: Share of full-time gig workers who prefer to be paid through PayPal.