The increasing digitalization of financial life is a trend that has been observed over the last decade and which has been reinforced by the pandemic worldwide. In Brazil, one of the countries where the population embraces technology and the rapid popularization of PIX has further accelerated this process. However, digital financial services require an infrastructure that allows the digital world to be included. In this article, we present the latest data on Brazilians' access to smartphones and the internet, as well as the use of these instruments for paying bills and transfers.

Digital solutions facilitate everything from prospecting to credit recovery. Credit bureaus make it possible for individuals to check their CPF status digitally and free of charge, and to negotiate arrears in the same environment.

The World Bank has been collecting global data on access to financial services since 2011 and compiles it in a database called the Global Findex. The 2025 publication, with data referring to 2024, provided unprecedented figures on connectivity and its impact on financial inclusion. According to the results, 86% have a cell phone, of which 68% have a smartphone model. Digital connectivity is defined by the report as accessing and using the internet or applications via a computer, tablet or cell phone to interact and carry out transactions.

In Brazil, the percentage of adults with a cell phone was 92%, above the global average. The equivalent rate of adults who own a smartphone was estimated at 72%. Regarding internet use, the Global Findex data shows that, worldwide, 71% reported using the web in the three months prior to the survey. In Brazil, this percentage was estimated at 88%.

Based on this general connectivity data, the survey explored the use of these resources in financial life. The data shows that the use of cell phones or the internet to pay bills is growing in several groups of countries. This mapping has been included in the Global Findex since 2017. In Brazil, the percentage of adults who reported using the internet or their cell phone to pay debts rose from 11% in 2017 to 55% in 2024, surpassing the Latin American average (35%), but remaining below that of upper-middle income countries (62%).

Looking at the evolution of digital payments, the 2024 figure shows that 70% of Brazilians have already made this type of transaction. This percentage was 46% in the 2021 measurement, which shows a significant leap in recent years, largely explained by the creation of the PIX. In this regard, Brazil was above the average for Latin America (51%) and upper middle-income countries (51%).

The sociodemographic data also shows significant differences in connectivity by age group. Daily internet use is more frequent among the population aged between 15 and 24. In this age group, the percentage reaches 97%, compared to 78% among the population over 25.

Another important factor is screen use. Brazilians use screens an average of 9:13 hours:minutes and the global average is 6:40, making them the second biggest users of screens in the world.

Full digital inclusion goes beyond access to the internet and ownership of devices, it also requires skills that enable secure interactions and transactions. This brings us to the subject of digital literacy. The most recent edition of the Digital Illiteracy Indicator (Inaf), The study, published in 2025, investigated the digital skills of Brazilians and found that only 23% of Brazilians have a high level of digital skills. This is a challenge that needs to be overcome, as the lack of these skills makes the user more vulnerable to scams and fraud.

Analyzing these studies shows the evolution of the last five years and the change in the way people deal with money and access credit, putting financial services in the palm of their hands. Digital literacy is still a necessary path and is part of the transformation journey that technology brings. From online shopping to credit marketplaces, the result has been an increase in consumer choice and wider access to financial services in which digital, financial and cyber literacy are pillars of credit sustainability.

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