January
22, 2021

6 min read

^{By: BPC Banking Technologies.}

• Retailers went digital, now they must diversify their payment offerings.
• Payments with QR Code will grow.
• Voice activated payments will pick up momentum.
• Contactless payments: COVID-19 will be the great catalyst to digitize the transportation payments infrastructure around the world.

BPC Banking Technologies , a company that offers smart digital solutions and works with banking institutions and neobanks, presented its projections for the digital payments market for 2021.

“It cannot be denied that COVID-19 presented the greatest challenge for cash transactions. The industry has never before seen such a drastic change in payment options with the replacement of cash payments to digital media. Mobile and contactless payments were the protagonists of last year, offering solutions that go beyond the hygiene issue linked to the use of cash ”, comments Santiago Egas, senior vice president and general manager of BPC Banking Technologies.

The adoption of new means of payment allowed people and businesses around the world to access the digital economy. But we are only at the beginning of what will be the reinvention of payment experiences.

^{Image: Unsplash.}

According to BPC Banking Technologies, these will be the four trends that will define the way payments will be made in 2021:

1. Retailers went digital, now they must diversify their payment offerings

Merchants responded very well to the pandemic by moving to e-commerce, but the work is just beginning. Diversification of payment methods will be the crucial step in 2021. As consumers continue to embrace e-commerce, often interacting with merchants they have not purchased from before, we will see growing demand for new digital payment methods. capable of meeting the safety and security concerns of customers.

“The ability to pay on delivery, ‘tokenization’, biometric fingerprint cards, phone-to-phone payments, along with a variety of more traditional card payment options, will help create a landscape where the consumer can take decisions based on convenience, personal preferences and knowing that you are protected against financial fraud, ”explains Egas.

2. Payments with QR Code will grow

In the quest for truly contactless payments during the pandemic, these methods will continue to prove their flexibility, especially in emerging markets, primarily because they are easy to use and inexpensive to implement. For next year, this type of payment is expected to be even easier to use, thanks to integrations with digital wallets.

“Today’s QR code payment solutions require an application that only allows it to be used in one establishment. In developed markets, leveraging popular digital wallets already on consumer smartphones, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay, make them more accessible. Customers will no longer need to download separate applications, but will be able to use their favorite wallet to make a purchase, “says Meyer Saavedra, sales manager and Latin America solutions consultant at BPC Banking Technologies.

3. Voice-activated payments will gain momentum

Although Artificial Intelligence has had important advances in other aspects of life; its application in the world of payments is only beginning to be seen. Voice-activated payments could be used to confirm transactions in other apps, such as food delivery providers. We are seeing how some merchants have integrated purchasing models that are activated by voice.

“Chatbots with speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion are the functions that have become more accessible to the industry so far, and they will be protagonists of the transformation in the way we make payments within applications. Digital banking applications that offer this function allow their clients to give instructions on transactions and initiate invoice payments using only their voice, ”explains Meyer Saavedra.

4. Contactless payments: COVID-19 will be the great catalyst to digitize the transportation payment infrastructure around the world

COVID-19 has been the catalyst for governments around the world to adopt digital services. This is becoming particularly visible in transportation, where we are beginning to see that individual ticket sales systems with a fragmented approach are already digitizing elements of the infrastructure and being replaced by end-to-end services.

“Its implementation will be seen mainly in the smaller cities of developed countries, as well as in emerging markets, where the use of cash is massive. The benefits of paying with a simple touch will go far beyond maintaining social distancing, as we hope to see a greater willingness of citizens to use cashless payment methods in other settings, ”concludes Santiago Egas.

January
21, 2021

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The incubation model that has been implemented for more than 10 years in Mexico seems to be that it has not changed much in some of the institutions that today promote the creation of startups. Business incubators have allowed the development, maturation, linking of entrepreneurs that, otherwise, would be impossible and in the worst case would lead to failure; According to figures from Small Business Trends , 90% of new startups fail or die, and those with the highest mortality rate are the information technology, construction and manufacturing industries. In the particular case of Mexico, according to data from The Failure Institute , 75% of startups die within two years, generally due to not knowing how to run the business.

The support of a startup incubator has been so crucial that until 2018, the National Entrepreneur Institute recognized around 70 high-impact incubators through which it supported various startups, specialized in projects that had a degree of innovation, called disruptive, technological, scalable and replicable, which promised an impact on thousands of people.

However, the process by which they develop their model to date is not always the most successful for companies. And it is that, working with a pool of companies in the same process, which do not necessarily have the same profile of entrepreneurs, or level of maturity, industry, knowledge or needs may not bring the expected results for all. If to this we add that for more than ten years the incubation model for many has remained the same; that many incubators have disappeared because they only survived due to the availability of public resources, now non-existent and that sometimes the entrepreneur is not so benefited, allows an understanding that the incubation model we know at least in Mexico has great opportunity to evolve and improve in favor of entrepreneurship.

As an entrepreneur you should know that, if you are in your initial stages and you are in search of an incubation process, you need to take into consideration certain recommendations that you cannot ignore. At G2 Consultores we do the following:

^{Image: Depositphotos.com}

1. Not always starting an incubation process with other startups is the best decision, each startup has its specific needs, its level of maturity. When a company presents its idea or project, it is evident that the shortcomings of the project are unique, so we suggest you join an incubation model that works in a personalized way, adjusted to your times and your needs and that preferably does not stop your activities for vacation periods, as it will also stop your process.

If you consider that you need all the mentoring or methodologies that will be taught in this process, join in, otherwise do not waste time and focus on the real and specific needs of your startup.

2. There are incubators that acquire a percentage of your company, be very careful with this, it does not mean that it is bad; However, take care of the percentage that you are going to give up, since in the future, it could bring you complications if your objective is to raise capital. Investors are interested in the startup being in the hands of the founders and not third parties in the early stages. Do not allow an incubator to become a founding member due to ignorance, to make decisions that are not in the best interests of your company; If you are going to do it, analyze the impact and that the benefits have the same value as what you are going to give up.

3. Know through an expert the weaknesses and strengths of your business, through a diagnosis he will know how to guide you on what are the weaknesses and where you have to redouble your efforts, you may not require an incubation process because you already have a developed product But you need a commercial strategy that allows you to understand your market and how to reach it. As we discussed, company needs are unique, so work on them and take your company to the next step.

January
20, 2021

2 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Opening a WhatsApp chat with yourself can be quite useful to have important files or messages on hand. Thus, you will access cooking recipes, to-do lists or the supermarket list in a practical and fast way.

Therefore, here we give you two options so that you can send yourself messages, photos, voice clips, among other files and thus, stop using the chats of people who have blocked you.

The first way is the most common and known. It consists of creating a group, however, for this you must add one or more contacts and then expel them, so it may not be so convenient. So the second way may be the most suitable.

How to create a chat with yourself step by step?

1. Open your phone’s browser (it can be Google Chrome)
2. In the address bar type wa.me// and add your country code and then the ten digits of your phone number. For example, for Mexico the code is 52, so it would be wa.me//5255XXXXXXXX
3. Then a window will appear with an invitation to chat with the corresponding number and a button that says “Continue to chat.” Then press that option
4. Later, a new chat with yourself will open in the WhatsApp application and you can start sending yourself messages or different multimedia files

Anchor chat for greater accessibility

If you want access to the chat with yourself to be even more direct, you should know that WhatsApp allows you to keep up to three conversations at the top of the message list. To do so, you just have to press and hold the chat you want to pin and choose the first icon that appears at the top (from left to right). To reverse this action you just have to press again and deselect the mentioned icon.

January
19, 2021

2 min read

One of the businesses most affected by the health crisis has been that of gyms . According to the data provided by the Mexican Association of Gymnasiums and Clubs (AMEGYC) , it is estimated that 20% of the gyms that existed before the pandemic in the country (12,500) were closed . And although others managed to survive, each one has suffered losses equivalent to one million pesos a month.

Another drawback that gyms have had to deal with has been restrictions. And it is that, according to reports, users canceled their subscriptions due to uncertainty and they are not clear about the opening and closing hours. For its part, the prohibition of cardio activities has also brought negative consequences.

^{So far, 20% of the gyms that existed before the pandemic in the country have closed / Depositphotos.com}

Therefore, for this 2021, many Mexican gyms have opted to transform their traditional business model to a hybrid one. In other words, the service will be maintained with the capacity recommended by the authorities of the Government of Mexico and, at the same time, there will be a greater effort so that the gyms are aware of the users in a virtual way and without neglecting the personalized attention. Some of the services already offered by online gyms are

• Classes every day through live broadcasts of yoga, pilates, high intensity and GAP (glutes, abs and legs)
• 24/7 training
• Nutritional and training plans

It is worth mentioning that, given the variations that the epidemiological traffic light presents in the country, another great challenge will be trying to maintain costs because, in addition to the fact that income is being scarce, gyms have had to invest to comply with the required safety protocols in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.

January
16, 2021

3 min read

Banorte and Rappi launched a plan called ´RappiContigo´ , which will have 250 million pesos to grant loans for working capital to businesses and restaurants in the Mexican Republic that are allied with the delivery application.

It should be mentioned that each assigned credit has a ceiling of up to one million pesos. The foregoing in order to provide support to the sector, which has been widely affected due to closures and a decrease in allowed diners, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This program seeks to benefit thousands of businesses with credits to continue their operation and thus prevent them from closing their doors permanently,” said the institution through a statement transmitted through its Twitter account.

Image: @GFBanorte_mx

It should be noted that this financing option will be available from January 15 , they invite businesses and restaurants that are already allies of Rappi México to register in the ´RappiContigo´ program on their portal, in which they have the possibility of request credit for working capital, without charging a commission for opening and with preferential conditions, in accordance with what they indicate in their publication.

Juan Miguel Guerra, general director of RappiPay Mexico , specified through said statement, “We want to help our restaurant partners, a group very affected by the pandemic, to reconfigure themselves to flourish once again, protecting sources of employment and delighting their customers. ”.

“For Banorte, the most important thing is that we continue to support each other in difficult times from Mexican to Mexican, as we have done since the pandemic began. For this reason, we now stand in solidarity with businesses and restaurants that need a boost to get ahead. We will continue to work closer than ever to companies and families in the country ”, commented José Francisco Martha, General Director of Payment Methods, Digital Banking and Technology at Grupo Financiero Banorte.

For his part, Alejandro Solís, General Director of Rappi Mexico, concluded the statement by mentioning, “At Rappi we maintain an unwavering commitment to Mexico and the restaurant sector. The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has meant great challenges for that industry, which is why, since its inception, we have implemented various actions focused on minimizing the economic impact for our partner restaurants. RappiContigo is one more of our actions, which we know will help our allies to move forward ”.

In case you are interested: WhatsApp postpones the update of the privacy policy due to the flight of users

January
15, 2021

2 min read

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), together with the National Chamber of the Beer and Malt Industry (Cerveceros de México), published the document Knowing the beer industry . This is a report that shows what the economic outlook is related to the beer and malt industries.

According to the information generated by INEGI, beer consumption in Mexico per capita went from 55 to 68 liters between 2014 and 2019 . That is, on average each Mexican ingests 1.3 liters of beer per week . Because of this, Mexico has ranked 30th in the ranking of beer consumption worldwide.

Likewise, the beer industry is among the 19 most important economic activities nationwide (out of a total of 288 classes of activities). Even, the percentage of added value generated by this sector (47.0%) is higher than that of the manufacturing industries (26.3%) . As a result, it is estimated that the brewing industry provides the highest wages to its workers in the entire alcoholic beverage industry.

Furthermore, according to the report, “for every peso produced of alcoholic beverages, 65 cents correspond to beer production.” It is worth mentioning that the average annual growth of beer production was 6.7% between 2013 and 2019.

On the other hand, there has also been a significant increase in micro, small and medium-sized companies that produce beer. It is even estimated that there are currently 128 establishments dedicated to the production of beer (the average number of jobs generated is 117 people).

It should be noted that the export rate has also grown by 13.1% from 1993 to 2019. Thanks to this, since 2010, Mexico has managed to position itself as the largest beer exporter worldwide; thus surpassing countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

^{Image: INEGI}

January
14, 2021

2 min read

Technological advances have made smart devices increasingly integrated into our daily lives. Such is the case ‘Family Hub’ , Samsung’s new refrigerator, which includes software capable of interacting with other appliances , recommending cooking recipes and even designing nutritional plans .

The company presented its smart refrigerator on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 . This includes a screen to access the ‘SmartThings Cooking’ application , which proposes personalized recipes “based on customer tastes and preferences,” said John Herrington, Samsung vice president and general manager of home appliances, in a statement.

Thus, the refrigerator can plan the weekly feeding of the family “in a more efficient way” , added the executive of the brand.

“Each recipe is designed to guide you through the simplified cooking process, timing and explaining each step like a cooking class at home,” the company said in the same statement.

^{Credit: Samsung.com}

Using the Whisk network of artificial intelligence , the software can also make your purchases directly on store platforms such as Walmart and Amazon Fresh . The app analyzes what is inside the fridge and adds the missing ingredients to the shopping cart , to order them at home .

“Families around the world embraced smarter cooking and optimized meal planning with the Samsung ‘Family Hub’ refrigerator ,” Herrington said.

This 2021, the CES digital innovation fair was held virtually and not in Las Vegas, Nevada, as in previous years. All conferences can be followed live from their official website , upon registration.

January
13, 2021

3 min read

Due to the changes made by WhatsApp in its privacy policies and the doubts of users regarding what data it will actually share with Facebook , many people have chosen to download and try other messaging applications such as Telegram .

In this context, many are looking for options to have some WhatsApp functions on Telegram. Although in both you can share stickers.How to continue using your favorite WhatsApp stickers on Telegram?

Next, we present a procedure tested by our team to achieve having your favorite images in a Telegram sticker pack. It is important to mention that this method only works on phones with Android operating system.

1. Go to the “Files” of your phone, look for internal memory.

^{Image: Entrepreneur in Spanish.}

2. Find the WhatsApp folder, open it and click on “Media”. Later, go to “WhatsApp Stickers”, there you will find all the stickers that you have used in the application.

3. Copy the “WhatsApp Sticker” folder, go back to internal memory and create a new folder.

^{Image: Entrepreneur in Spanish.}

4. Enter the new folder and hit it. All the WhatsApp stamps that you just copied will be pasted there.

5. Go to the folder you just copied, find the stickers you want to transfer, change the name and extension to PNG. For example: Sad Puppy.png

^{Image: Entrepreneur in Spanish.}

6. Go to Telegram, find the verified “Stickers” bot and click “start” or “restart”, in case you have already used it before.

7. Multiple options will appear, click on “create a new sticker pack”, it will ask you to name it, just reply to the message.

8. It will send you a message with instructions, go to the clip> File> Internal storage> enter the folder you created in the previous steps and choose the stickers you renamed and send them.

^{Image: Entrepreneur in Spanish.}

9. Follow the instructions and hit “publish” when you’re ready. Then click on “skip” and it will ask you to choose a name for your new pack, if it is already busy it will keep asking you for one until it finds one available.

^{Image: Entrepreneur in Spanish.}

10. Once the name is chosen, click on the link they share with you and add your stickers. Ready! You can now use it with your friends.

^{Image: Entrepreneur in Spanish.}

January
12, 2021

2 min read

This story originally appeared on Alto Nivel

• The entire batch of iPhone has a price of 51,177 pesos, although this can be raised, within Apple’s equipment are five iPhone 8 Plus, three iPhone 7 and an iPhone X.

The National Institute to Give Back to the People the Stolen (INDEP) has already set a date for its first auction in 2021, which will be held from January 7 to 20. Among the items that will be auctioned are smartphones such as iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Aiwa.

The entire batch of iPhone has a price of 51,177 pesos, although this can be raised, within Apple’s equipment are five iPhone 8 Plus, three iPhone 7 and an iPhone X.

These devices belonging to lot 475 , have a starting price per group, that of the five iPhone 8 is 36,194.20 pesos; the three iPhone 7 cost 8,112.98 pesos; and the iPhone X will have a starting price of 6,869.78 Mexican pesos.

Also, within the mobile equipment we will find a batch of 60 Samsung Galaxy J6 32 GB cell phones with a starting price of 157,202 pesos, and another with nine Samsung Galaxy Edge devices, with a starting price of 29,255 pesos.

^{INDEP via web .}

In addition, 11 Samsung Galaxy S6 will be auctioned with a starting price of 22,100 pesos, and 10 Samsung A10 that cost 17,104 pesos.

On the other hand, there is a batch of 10,710 Aiwa cell phones, of which they point out that “its operation is unknown”, and whose starting price is 6 million 334 thousand 671 Mexican pesos.

January
12, 2021

2 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Although the instant messaging platform is the subject of criticism , there is no doubt that it is one of the most popular. One of the many functions that WhatsApp has, is that it allows you to add YouTube videos to the states, it even gives you the option of choosing with whom to share your content or not. However, not everyone knows how to do it.

Like other platforms, like its sisters ; Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp statuses last only 24 hours, in which you can share all kinds of personalized content. Also, you can do it now on Twitter with Fleets and LinkedIn with stories.

How to add Youtube videos to WhatsApp statuses:

1. From your mobile device go to Youtube.
2. Choose the video you want to share and click on the “share” option (just below the arrow icon).
3. Now select WhatsApp.
4. It will redirect you to the instant messaging application. There you will see a menu for you to choose who you want to send it to. However, at the top comes the option “My status.”
5. Before clicking, locate the gear that will take you to the “Status privacy”. It can be My contacts, My contacts except, or Only share with.
6. Once you have chosen, press OK and you will be returned to the menu to select “My status” and that’s it.
7. You can customize your post with emojis, letters, or just change the background.

Image: Capture

NOTE: you will not see a preview of the video, only the link will appear. So, whoever wants to see it will have to click on it.