Use of e-Wallets and Their Impact on SME Business Transactions

Currently, worldwide there is an accelerated digital transformation, which will continue in time with the same trend, becoming an everyday part of human life. The appearance of covid-19 has had a strong impact on several aspects of life, especially in the way of acquiring products and/or services, which, due to the fear of receiving money from a person infected with the virus, led people to look for other options to carry out their economic transactions without physical contact, such as the use of electronic wallets. However, many entrepreneurs still do not use this type of technology in their businesses. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of the use of electronic wallets in the commercial transactions of SMEs. To this end, we worked with entrepreneurs in the town of Otuzco in the La Libertad Region of Peru. It was observed that they only carried out transactions using the cash collection and payment method and did not use technological tools such as electronic wallets. This is applied research with a quasi-experimental design, cross-sectional and quantitative approach, with a sample of 88 SMEs divided into a control group (23 SMEs) and an experimental group (65 SMEs). The survey was used as a data collection technique, and a program was developed to promote the use of electronic wallets in the entrepreneurs of the city of Otuzco, obtaining as a result a positive impact on the commercial transactions of these SMEs. The results show that 96% of the merchants were reluctant to use electronic wallets for fear of being affected by computer crimes. After the training, 98% of the merchants monitored recognized the importance of their use in their regular commercial transactions. In conclusion, it was found that training on the use of electronic wallets and continuous monitoring have a positive impact on the level of commercial transactions, boosting the competitiveness of businesses by increasing sales, streamlining operations, and reducing financial costs. The research is of interest because it shows the importance of disseminating programs in the use of technological tools such as digital wallets in small businesses to achieve a positive impact on the improvement of their economic activities.