- In 2020, Italians' confidence in digital payments increased, with contactless purchases in Italy, which grew by 29% in terms of transacted value, reaching 81.5 billion euros. In the first six months of 2021, growth was even stronger. At the same time, phishing emails increased by 600% worldwide in the first few months of the year
- The guide aims to raise user awareness of digital payments, giving them useful tips on how to make the most of payment apps and cards and how to protect themselves against online scams by taking precautions
Rome, October 27th, 2021 - A guide to help families make purchases and transactions with smartphones, PCs and payment cards in an informed and safe way, both in-store and online is now available free of charge. "Pagare digitale: carte e app che ti semplificano la vita", is the first guidebook edited by Altroconsumo in partnership with Enel X Financial Services on how to make the most of alternative payment instruments to cash, such as Enel X Pay, now increasingly popular in Italy, and protect against online fraud.
"The partnership with Altroconsumo has enabled us to produce this guide designed to make it easier for consumers to use apps and payment cards," says Giulio Carone, CEO of Enel X Financial Services. "This is an important initiative in financial education that demonstrates how Enel X Pay's mission is not only to contribute to innovation in the digital payments market, developing increasingly simple and cutting-edge services, but also to accompany the evolution of customers' purchasing habits, helping them to be better informed and ready to take full advantage of all the opportunities the new electronic payment instruments offer."
Federico Cavallo, Head of External Relations at Altroconsumo, said: "This guide is an example of how good financial education can be achieved by bringing together the experience and expertise of an organization such as Altroconsumo, which provides information to consumers, including in the payments field, and that of a market operator such as Enel X Financial Services. The result is an easy-to-read guidebook explaining even the most innovative payment instruments to users in accessible and non-technical language, giving advice on how to make the best use of digital payments and what to do if you fall victim to online fraud. With this project, we hope to give people the confidence to fully take part in the ongoing digital revolution and give further impetus to the development of the digital economy in Italy.”
According to the latest ECB data, 82% of payments in Italy are still made in cash compared to an average of 73% in the EU countries. However, the recent pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of transactions in Italy too, so much so that contactless purchases made during 2020 grew by 29% in terms of transacted value, reaching 81.5 billion euros, despite a drastic slump in consumption. In the first six months of 2021, this trend was consolidated with digital payments becoming commonplace for many Italians.
At the same time as the increase in digital payments, there was also a sharp rise in the number of scam attempts on online channels to extort money from account and credit card holders. According to the latest report released by Italy’s Postal Police, globally, phishing emails increased by 600% in the first few months of 2020, with an increase in the use of Covid-19 related themes to target increasingly larger pools of users.
In light of this data and in partnership with Altroconsumo, Enel X Pay has produced a guide with useful tips and suggestions on how to safely make physical and online payments for goods and services, and also to pay pagoPA bills for taxes, fines and other payments to public administrations.
The guide also gives useful advice about how to prevent online fraud attempts including phishing and more. The advice includes: notifying Italy’s Postal Police and your bank if you receive a suspicious email asking for money, setting up automatic transaction alerts on your mobile so you can act quickly in case of unauthorized transactions and regularly checking your bank statements. If you suffer a financial loss as a result of a scam, the guide reminds you to block your card or app and report it to the police, and also that the bank is always responsible for any problems with its systems. This means that it cannot charge customers for fraudulent use of their card or online banking unless the fault or intent of the account holder is proven.
The Enel X Pay and Altroconsumo guidebook illustrates all the advantages of using digital payments over cash, such as greater security and lower costs. If digital payment instruments are stolen, lost or cloned, holders will only be liable for any fraudulent use made prior to the instrument being blocked, up to a maximum of 50 euros, while there is obviously no limit for cash, which cannot be recovered if lost or stolen. A Bankitalia study also shows how cash is not free, costing each Italian a whopping 122 euros per year for production, storage, transport and insurance costs.
The "Paying digitally: cards and apps to make life easier” guide is available free of charge on the Enel X and Altroconsumo websites at the following links: https://www.enelx.com/it/it/news/2021/10/pagare-digitale-guida-ai-pagamenti-elettronici?ecid=Display-Comunicato-IT_EnelXFinancialServices_IT-link-AltroConsumo
Enel X is the Enel Group's global business line that offers services that accelerate innovation and guide the energy transition. World leader in the sector of advanced energy solutions, Enel X manages services such as demand response for approximately 7.4 GW of total capacity globally and 137 MW of storage capacity installed worldwide, as well as 232,000 charging points for electric vehicles made available worldwide1. Through its advanced solutions, including energy management, financial services and electric mobility, Enel X provides each partner with an intuitive and personalized ecosystem of technological platforms and consulting services, focused on the principles of sustainability and the circular economy in order to provide people, communities, institutions and companies with an alternative model that respects the environment and integrates technological innovation into daily life. Each solution has the power to transform the goals of decarbonization, electrification and digitalization into sustainable actions for all, in order to build together a more sustainable and efficient world.
1 Public and private charging points, including points of interoperability.