economy
Why do Netflix, Amazon, and Airbnb still cost more despite the historic fall of the dollar in Colombia?
Automatic conversions on traditional cards continue to affect consumers' pockets. Photo:
TL;DR
- Colombians are paying higher prices for international digital services despite the dollar's decline due to hidden conversion fees and bank commissions.
- Platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Airbnb continue to charge extra costs through automatic conversions and financial differentials.
- E-commerce in Colombia is growing rapidly, but international payments are burdened by a chain of financial charges.
- Users paying for services like Netflix or ChatGPT monthly can end up paying significant amounts annually in international purchase commissions.
- Banks and financial networks apply exchange rate margins, leading to final prices exceeding the official TRM.
- Reservation platforms like Airbnb and e-commerce sites like Amazon also incorporate additional charges for international processing.
- Many of these extra costs are not clearly broken down for consumers, making it difficult to identify additional spending.
- Small and medium-sized businesses relying on digital advertising also face additional costs when paying platforms like Meta and Google in dollars.
- The increase in independent workers and frequent use of international digital platforms by Colombians highlights the need for better payment tools.
- Fintechs are offering Mastercard cards funded with digital dollars (USDC) to allow direct payment in the original currency, reducing conversion costs.