Retrospective for payments and banking in 2022: How did the industry grow in Latin America?

The year of 2022 was a period marked by great growth for the payment and banking industry, even if it didn’t end on the same optimistic note as the previous years. Although we’ve reached an ‘investment winter’, payments in 2022 kept rapidly changing along with new technologies, regulations more favorable for innovation and expanded financial inclusion.  

Here at Dock, we celebrate each step in the payment and banking industry in Latin America in 2022. In this article, we want to share some of those milestones with you, as well as comment on what we see as opportunities and trends for the financial universe in 2023. Take a look at our retrospective!

 

Means of payment in 2022: What were the most relevant events this year?

 

We’ve listed some of the most important events in each month of 2022 for banks, fintechs and companies providing financial services:

 

January: NRF is back in an in-person format and discusses trends for payments in 2022

 

NRF is the largest global event for retailwhere means of payment have gained prominence in discussions about embedded finance, card user experience and evolution of electronic commerce.

That’s why it was a pleasure to take part in this in-person event again in New York City and follow some of the featured content this year, such as:

• Movements in retail, even facing challenges such as inflation, a high unemployment rate and supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic;
• Stronger need to ‘take care of the customer’, in the sense of safe retail;
• Digital and physical customer experiences integrated;
• Unexplored potential in metaverse for the industry, including food retail.

Do you want to know more about how this edition of the NRF Retail's Big Show? See this summary of NRF 2022!

 

February: Land of Opportunity study is released

 

 

March: Ley de Bancos in Peru is updated

 

The change in Ley de Bancos in Peru—also known as Ley General del Sistema Financiero y del Sistema de Seguros y Orgánica de la Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros—was a hightlight for the payment and banking industry in 2022.

Through Decree #1531, published on March 19 and following the Congress granting more power for the Executive Branch to govern financial matters, some changes were approved, such as:

• Introducing the mode ‘Credit Company’ as a financial system company, which replaced the position ‘Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequeña y Micro Empresa – EDPYME’;
• Before such change, many fintech were only able to offer loans based on their own capital. Now they should start exploring new solutions for the credit market;
• Besides, the update on Ley de Bancos also enabled financial system companies to perform all their authorized operations digitally, which helps modernize the Peruvian market.

 

Those transformations can be seen as a part of great efforts for the country to digitize their means of payment. After all, around 44% of all purchases in physical retail are still paid in cash in Peru.

Learn more about the scenario in the Land of Opportunity study

 

 

April: Study shows Latin Americans are less likely to use cash

 

The fact that cash is still a preferred payment method is a major challenge to be overcome in economies of Latin America so that there can better and more custom financial solution offerings, improved trackability for transactions and reduced tampering, among other benefits.

The good news is that evolution of means of payment has contributed strongly to change this scenario:  83% of Latin Americans tend to use payment methods like cryptocurrencies, biometry, approximation or QR Code. This movement takes place at the same time that the use of cash in the region is falling. The data are part of the survey of the Dock released in April.

 

May: Dock captures US$ 110 million and increases valuation to over US$ 1,5 billion

 

This piece of news is about us, but we’re so happy to share it again. In May, we announced capturing US$ 110 million, during a round lead by Lightrock and Silver Lake Waterman, also featuring our existing investors Riverwood Capital, Viking Global Investors and Sunley House Capital.

We’re pleased to earn our investors’ trust in our technology and on the potential for the payment and banking industry in Latin America, which also helped consolidate our purpose: democratize the financial system access in order to promote the inclusion of unbanked and underbanked individuals in the region.

 

June: Fintechs drive reduced banking concentration

 

From 81% to 71% in 10 years: that was the reduction seen in banking concentration in Brazil as fintechs advanced. Those  numbers were shared by the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, who also highlighted the role of financial startups in lowering the costs of financial products.

And that trend is not exclusive for Brazil: as fintechs and embedded finance advance in Latin America, the entire region benefits from a scenario where there’s more competition.

 

Read also | DeFi: Decentralizing finance is the next step

 

July: 5G officially arrives in Brazil and brings good perspectives for payments in 2022 and beyond  

 

The 5th Generation of the internet was officially launched in Brazil in July and is still under incremental implementation to reach more cities and regions beyond large urban centers. A key opportunity provided by its implementation is actually associated with means of payment—which should also happen in other Latin American countries as the technology advances.

Among the prospects for 5G and payment methods They are:

• Connection available in remote regions of the country;
• Improved customer experience;
• More affordable financial products;
• Financial Inclusion of people still digitally excluded.

 

July: Colombia issues decree for implementing Open Banking

 

O Open Banking in Colombia took an important step forward in July, when the Ministry of Finance published the first open finance regulation in the country. The decree seeks to clarify the rules applicable to the sharing of consumer data, frame the management of digital platforms and the provision of financial services and regulate the initiation of payments, among other issues.

This is an extremely important step for the Colombian market, which should boost fintech businesses and payment institutions throughout the implementation of your open model Banking.

 

August: FEBRABAN TECH brings together the Latin American payment industry in 2022

 

Another great event returning to an in-person format due to more flexible measures during the pandemic was FEBRABAN TECH (formerly CIAB), which presented an opportunity for players in the payment and banking industry to meet up and discuss the most relevant topics in the sector today and in the future.

 

Highlights at FEBRABAN TECH 2022:

• 5G as an innovation driver in the financial industry;
• CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) as an essential part of a future using tokenized assets;
• Financial citizenship;
• Credit as a new stage of financial inclusion.

 

The last topic was discussed in the talk featuring our CEO at Dock Antonio Soares. Watch it in full:

 

September: Global Findex Database 2021 released by Banco Mundial  

 

The Global Findex report by the Central Bank is a ‘must-read’ for those operating in the payment and banking industry, especially for the insights it offers when it comes to financial inclusion around the world, since it guides us through opportunities and operation priorities.

In the 2022 edition, a specific set of data reflects all efforts in our industry to democratize the access to financial services: in developing countries, 71% of adults have an account at a financial institution or access to a digital wallet—an increase by over 50% in comparison with a decade ago.

Learn more in the video:

 

October: Fintech Law is approved in Chile  

 

The Fintech Law being approved in Chile represented another advance for the payment and banking industry in Latin America in 2022.

Key advances brought by this new legislation include:

• A new open financial system (Open Banking), which will enable customers to share information with financial institutions and result in more affordable and custom services available to all;
• Regulation for payment initiationservice providers, contributing to reducing the use of cash;
• Recognition for cryptoassets as means of payment, granting more powers for the Central Bank of Chile to consider cryptoassets as means of payment, at a value that is determinable and based on money (‘stablecoins’), meeting the requirements set by their issuing institution;
• Different laws modified, now reducing barriers for fintechs to advance, while they previously governed traditional financial institutions to reach regulatory symmetry when providing financial services.

 

November: 2 years of Pix in Brazil

 

It can be safely said that the Pix, Brazil's instant payment system, reached its second anniversary as a huge success.

In its first XNUMX years, the model implemented by Central Bank of Brazil, achieved milestones such as:

• 26 billion transactions;
• R$ 12,9 trillion in transactions;
• Consolidation as the most used means of payment in the country since February 2022;
• Continuous growth for operations—94% between the first and the second year.

(data provided by FEBRABAN)

In addition to all the functionalities that follow in the BCB's roadmap for the Pix As Pix International and Pix Guaranteed, the entity announced plans to open the system's protocols free of charge to all countries that want to use them. Colombia is one of the markets that has already expressed interest in accelerating the innovation process of its financial system as of the Pix.

 

November: Brazil and Colombia advance their regulations for crypto

 

In November, the Brazilian Congress approved the main text for the Bill 4401/21 (formerly 2303/15), which regulates the cryptoasset industry in Brazil. The text is still to pass presidential sanctions. Although it doesn’t make any currency legal in the country, it does bring a number of measures focused on cryptocurrency security for their users and enforces the establishment of an agency setting guidelines for the industry.

Whereas the Bill #139 2021 was introduced in Colombia, now recognizing Cryptoasset Exchange Platforms (PIC). It aims to regulate exchanges while also ensuring more security for citizens using cryptocurrencies.

 

Read also | Crypto as a Service: Engine to unlock financial solutions for cryptocurrencies? 

 

November: Platform Dock One is introduced to payment industry in 2022

 

In November, we shared great news with the industry: Dock One is our single, integrated platform for payment and banking. It aims to easily scale operations for payment and credit locally or anywhere in the world.

Players issuing cards or seeking processing and credit solutions by using one integration now can rely on a single, rapidly-evolving platform to go beyond with their business.

 

Learn more in the video:

 

December: Users see healthy fraud prevention as key when choosing a financial service

74% of the users interviewed by FICO in the 2022 Consumer Survey  chose "healthy prevention to fraude” as one of the three keys points for adopting a financial system.

For those individuals, protecting their assets is also part of an excellent user experience, which further increases the need for companies in the industry to invest in the best technology not only to promote secure transactions, but also to improve customer loyalty and retention.

 

What lies ahead of us? Trends for payments in 2023

 

As we’ve seen in this article, there were significant advances for the financial universe and payment industry in 2022. And there’s so much more to come in 2023!

The following topics should continue to drive the industry in Latin America:

• Advances in the CBDC agenda, especially in Brazil, thanks to the Digital Real; 
• More consolidated instant payment systems, such as CoDi in Mexico and Transferencias 3.0 in Argentina;
• Evolving digital accounts for legal persons and other financial solutions for and other financial solutions for companies, especially SMBs;
• New solutions focused on specific audiences through niche fintechs;
• New consolidated credit models, including Buy Now, Pay Later;
• Follow-up on Open Banking and Open Finance projects in Latin America.

 

Here at Dock, we keep a close eye on those topics as a part of our purpose: dematerialize finances for unlocking business potential and empowering people through organic, detached financial technologies.

Watch our video manifest:  

 

Retrospective for payments in 2022: Takeaways from this article

 

• Even presenting challenges for the payment and banking industry, 2022 was marked by important advances in the financial universe in Latin America.
• Key highlights for payments in 2022 include the approval of Ley Fintech in Chile, 5G implementation in Brazil, Pix’ 2nd anniversary, and the advance in financial inclusion in Latin America.
• The main trends for payments in 2023 include advances in the CBDC agenda, consolidated Open Banking and Open Finance models, an evolving credit industry and financial solutions focused on SMBs.

Articles related to payments in 2022:

• Deepfake fraud: Threat in means of payment requires robust antifraud solution
• Open X: What’s next after Open Finance?
• El Buen Fin 2022: A pathway for promoting financial inclusion and accelerating the payment and banking industry
• DeFi: Decentralizing finance is the next step