Lessons and Challenges of the Argentine Fintech Market

The meeting ‘Fintech Market in Argentina: Lessons learned, next challenges’ was organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce of Argentina, and moderated by Santiago del Río, Partner at Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal. Topics discussed included fintech regulation, interoperability, open banking, definitions, and the latest developments in the crypto world.

Rocío Carreras, Banking Business Manager of Legal Services at BBVA in Argentina, participated as a representative of the entity together with Mariano Biocca, executive director of the Argentine Fintech Chamber, María Pilar Ortiz, leader of Legal Advisory of Commercial Banking at Santander Argentina, Santiago Eraso Lomáquiz, director of Legal, Compliance and Public Affairs at MODO, Juan Diehl Moreno, Fintech Crypto & Banking partner at Marval O’Farrell Mairal.

Read more about the Argentine fintech sector and find the latest financial news of the day with the Born2Invest mobile app.

During the Argentine fintech conference, changes in market regulators were also discussed

Rocío Carreras referred to some trends that are gaining strength in banking today, among them, ‘open banking’, the practice of sharing financial information with different players through APIs seeking to improve the customer experience. “It allows a comparison of products, prices, spending budget, and advice on investment decisions. It is born for different reasons; firstly, because of technological revolutions and innovative solutions. And secondly, because of the empowerment of the customer who wants to have a personalized experience 24 hours a day, advice through all channels, to know their tastes and preferences,” he explained.

“Open banking is a topic of great interest to traditional banks for several reasons: firstly, because it facilitates digitalization and creates new business models, and secondly, because it offers the possibility of alliances and the possibility of scaling solutions,” said the executive.

During the conference, changes in market regulators were also discussed. In this regard, Carreras pointed out: “There is a regulatory change of mentality. Before, regulators focused on products and now they focus on the financial user”. Protection, transparent information, access to multiple options, and low cost were some of the characteristics mentioned by the speaker that customers are looking for today.

Regulations of the fintech sector in Argentina and Europe

To give a broader context, the manager analyzed the regulation of ‘Open Banking’ inside and outside the country and mentioned one of the most relevant resolutions issued by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic last year.

“Regulation in Argentina is incipient. We have regulation 75/15 that established absolute interoperability in electronic transfers and payments, which obliges to associate both traditional accounts and digital payment accounts (CVU) of our own and third parties”, said Carreras and added that there is still a need to advance in the regulation in relation to the obligation to share financial information.

BBVA, awarded for its promotion of open banking

BBVA has received international recognition for its commitment to open banking. The specialized magazine Retail Banker International, part of the British platform Verdict, has awarded the bank for having the best open banking services in the world.

On the other hand, he spoke about the experience in the European market: “There is the ‘Payment Services Directive’ (PSD2), which deals with the transfer of information from suppliers, innovation, that customers have the best and most personalized solutions and, above all, the obligation to share financial information always with the customer’s consent”, he said.

Beyond recognizing the progress of the issue in Europe, Rocio Carreras explained that there are some issues to be resolved in relation to the implementation channels: “In this procedure, it does not require the use of ‘APIs’. This is a pain point of the regulation because it does not provide enough security and privacy to customers and that is why it is believed that the standard was not massively implemented”.

Taking into account the European model and the current local regulation, the executive shared the country’s upcoming challenges on regulations: “Transfers with fund orders that are made through an account and the right to share information have to be finalized”. At the same time, she stressed the importance of the regulator: “We must have clear rules that protect the rights of customers, their privacy and the security of their data and, on the other hand, that there are fair rules for all players, flexible and adaptable to technological changes for ‘Open Banking’ and ‘Open Finance’,” she concluded.

__

(Featured image by  HalloweenHJB via Pixabay)

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third-party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.

This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.

First published in BBVA, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

Although we made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translations, some parts may be incorrect. Born2Invest assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions or ambiguities in the translations provided on this website. Any person or entity relying on translated content does so at their own risk. Born2Invest is not responsible for losses caused by such reliance on the accuracy or reliability of translated information. If you wish to report an error or inaccuracy in the translation, we encourage you to contact us.