According to their latest data The World Bank by 2021, in low- and middle-income countries except China, it took a pandemic for 40% of adults to digital transaction. It is also estimated that two-thirds of (adult) citizens worldwide use their mobile phone or bank card to pay or receive payment, with the share of this category of transactions increasing to 57% in 2021 from 35% in 2014. In Greece, payments via bank cards and the Internet increased by more than 6% in 2021 compared to the previous year. At the same time, Japanese multinational Rakuten estimates penetration in Greece of the messaging and calling app Viber, which it has controlled since 2014, at over 91%.

Her decision was based on these data. Viber expand since last December in the field of electronic payments, and improve the usability for businesses that use it as a means of promoting their products and services. Greece is the most important market in Central Europe for the company, Rakuten Viber head of revenue Cristina Constantache said yesterday. As he explained, he places Greece in Central Europe because it shares more characteristics with the countries of a certain geographical group.

A few months ago, OTE introduced Payzy, while Google, Apple, and Viva Wallet developed their own solutions.

Since December, when it was launched in Greece, Viber’s digital wallet has 200,000 users and total transactions of 100,000 euros, she said. Viber’s focus on the Greek market is evidenced by the fact that the digital transaction app was first launched in Greece and Germany, and its availability has gradually spread to the rest of Europe and a total of 180 countries where the company has a presence. In Germany, there are far fewer users of the application – there are no more than 3 million of them – but the country is considered a “strong corridor” for money transfers to Greece. Competition in electronic payment applications is intensifying, but according to market participants, this market presents strong growth prospects for both new and old players. This is noticeable when you consider that out of the 1.5 billion euros of transactions made with electronic money in 2021, only 3% were made through online wallet. A few months ago OTE launched it Paizi, a proprietary technological digital wallet that allows you to conduct transactions as well as receive a Greek IBAN. Google and Apple have developed their own digital payment solutions, as well as Viva Wallet, which is present in 24 European countries. Of course, all applications have a common feature. They charge a fee on most transactions made by their users.

At the same time, Viber is trying to make its application more attractive to businesses, through which (used as Chatbox – an automated communication box) 180 million messages were exchanged with sending companies in 2022. And in order to make the application more functional, since yesterday it automatically sorts incoming business messages into a single folder.