Febraban Tech 2023: the top seven subjects discussed at the largest financial event in Latin America

Published on Jun 30, 2023.

12 minutes reading

From June 27-29, the Latin American financial market met to discuss the trends that are moving the sector. With the central discussion surrounding “The bioeconomy and opportunities in a digital society,” Febraban Tech 2023 offered more than 100 panels of content, reaffirming technology and innovation as a mark of the financial universe.

The consolidation of Pix, the evolution of Digital Real and the challenges of Open Finance – pillars of the Central Bank’s innovation agenda – were present in most of the debates, as well as issues around access to credit, Generative AI and Embedded Finance <span style="color:#fff">now</span>.

Once again we were part of this major gathering of the financial sector. In this article we have selected some of the main discussions that took place during Febraban Tech 2023!

1. Bioeconomy: a look at financial inclusion

“A bioeconomics it is a reality, it can be profitable and it is a challenge for the entire banking sector”. This was the message from the opening panel at Febraban Tech 2023, which gathered leaders from the country’s main banks to discuss the event’s central topic.

In addition to the fundamental role that technology plays in supporting an environmental agenda, there were also discussions about the importance of expanding the sustainability discussion, keeping in mind that when we talk about “a better world,” this involves including people in the financial system,, expanding access to credit, and decreasing misery.

“The financial system must think about actions in conjunction with governments in order to create true financial inclusion,” said Maria Rita Serrano, President of Caixa Econômica Federal.

Watch the event’s opening panel to understand the relationship of the bioeconomy with the financial sector:

2. Generative AI as an ally of productivity

There is no question that Generative Artificial Intelligence – which comprises tools such as the famous Chat GPT – is the subject of the day. It’s easy to imagine the most extreme scenario possible, with thousands of workers being replaced.

This was one of the issues discussed by Ian Beacraft in the panel “Web 3, Metaverse, Generative AI, and the Future of Synthetic Reality,” one of the most highly anticipated presentations of the event. For the futurist, Generative AI will not result in the loss of jobs. . “To the contrary, more people will be hired because it will be possible to offer products and services that we couldn’t even imagine two weeks ago.”

Other speakers at Febraban Tech 2023 also discussed this issue, shedding light on studies such as the one conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Researchwhich states that using AI at work, especially in areas such as customer services, can increase productivity by up to 14%,considering the volume of problems resolved per hour.

In addition to including virtual assistants to provide customer support, there are many other uses for ChatGPT in the means of payment such as suggestions for personalized solutions, document processing, detecting fraudulent payment and many others. That is, if used properly, there is enormous potential for Generative AI to positively impact the financial sector..

Finally, the need for the financial area to expand its horizons and surprise clients with services not yet part of the segment became evident. This is what the user wants. We are talking about using Artificial Intelligence in the field of Contextual Banking – and whoever is successful in meeting that demand will stand apart.

To learn more, watch the panel discussion here:

3. The opportunity to change the status quo on loans

In 2022, we talked about the importance of taking a second step in financial inclusion in Latin America, making sure the recently banked got access to responsible loan products.

Now in 2023, it is time to make these offers tangible in a way that is attractive to consumers, but also sustainable for those offering this type of product – especially businesses whose core is not payments and banking and that have financial arms through the Embedded Finance route.

This was the central message of the presentation “Challenges to changing the status quo of credit in Brazil”, presented by the CEO of Dock, Antonio Soares. You can watch the video of the presentation below:

presented by the CEO of Dock, Antonio Soares. You can watch the video of the presentation below: analyzing opportunities for credit solutions in addition to what already exists, looking at the characteristics of the population, and providing financial education content along the way.

Among the questions raised were the following: "Why have loan products with monthly payment installments, when a significant part of the population pays with a different frequency?”.

To support businesses in this mission, we announced the launch of responsible credit solutions on our Dock Oneplatform, giving our clients the ability to offer their users more flexible products, and to encourage even more responsible financial decisions.

4. Hyper-personalization and digital onboarding: the key to gaining client loyalty

The digital era revolutionized how clients interact with financial productsand services. Today, clients want an easy, fast, frictionless, safe, and personalized digital experience. Technology is essential to attaining that objective, as became clear in the panel “Hyper-personalization and digital onboarding for gaining the loyalty of banking clients.”

O Digital onboarding, as a starting point for consumer engagement, and hyperpersonalization, to meet more qualified and diverse customer demands, should be priorities more than ever for institutions that want to stand out.

If digital products bring simplicity, safety, and speed for clients, then for companies they can create new businesses and opportunities.

Watch the panel discussion to learn more about gaining banking clients’ loyalty:

5. Connecting the links in the chain with Embedded Finance

Companies outside the segment offering financial services is no longer news. The essential thing now is to understand this model’s potential to learn even more about clients, and to offer them an experience that is hyper-personalized, connected, and that adds value to all links in the chain.

This vision was brought to Febraban Tech 2023 by Paula Andrade, Vice President of Retail of Natura & Co Latin America, in the panel “The retail of the future (and the present) is connected, autonomous, and integrated with the financial world.”

Access the panel on the retail of the future to learn more about this important point:

Called Natura &Co Pay, the cosmetics multinational's financial services platform serves more than 600 consultants who have access to credit and features such as payments by credit card products e Pix. At the other end of direct sales, the consumer also benefits from having access to more payment options.

According to the executive, the company offers long credit payment periods to help support its consultants’ businesses. “We have been able to deliver the best options, as well as to place an app with various services in their hands. By taking financial education courses, it is also possible to understand the best ways to conduct business,” she said.

The case of Natura & Co Pay was also presented in Fluid Arena, an exclusive content space at the booth of Dock during the event.

6. Open Finance: the challenge of consent

If 2022 was the year when things started to happen with Open Finance, 2023 is the time to understand how the user is adapting to this system.

In the panel “Bank CIOs: technology at the center of business,” the statistic was mentioned that on average, only 4% of users are renewing consent to access their data, which should be done every year. This indicates that the client still finds it difficult to perceive the value of the service in their daily life.

This issue of providing the user with tangible benefits was also thoroughly discussed in the panel “Open finance and the evolution of added services,” with Helen Child, Founder of Open Banking Excellence, a group that gathers more than 34 banks, regulatory bodies, and financial service providers all over the world.

Helen pointed out that Brazil has shown other countries that it has a new ecosystem that is strong and innovative from point to point. The executive also cited Embedded Finance as the system that is going to “crown” the trajectory initiated by Open Finance, as embedded finances allow services to be extended to people who do not live in large urban areas, for example.

To learn more about what was discussed in the panel on Open Finance and Added Services, you can watch the video here:

7. The time of the Tokenized Economy and the Digital Real is now

Asset tokenization is a one-way street. Currently 114 countries representing more than 95% of Global GDP are exploring the development of CBDCs, as the digital currencies issued by Central Banks are called.

This data point, from the Atlantic Council study, guided the discussion in the panel “Digital Real and Brazil on the tokenization map,” led by Fabio Araujo, coordinator of the Digital Real project at the Central Bank. The idea is that tokenization for the sake of tokenization is not sufficient; this process must be done with the intent of addressing the needs of the system, and expanding and facilitating access to services.

According to Araujo, the Central Bank expanded Digital Real testing to 16 proposals. The focus now is on usage cases, that is, transforming technological advances into effective products and services. “It isn’t enough to understand the financial system, programming, or technology. It is necessary to understand how to create advantages from that innovation,” he said.

The panel discussion on the Digital Real was also a highlight at Febraban Tech 2023:

Dock is on top of the constant transformations in Latin America’s financial sector

Dock was very pleased to participate once again in Febraban Tech! We are excited to see our stand always full of clients, partners, and friends of the Brazilian banking and payments market, sharing insights and expectations for the sector. We are sure that together, as an ecosystem, we will build a stronger and more inclusive financial universe.

In addition to the excellent exchanges with clients and other large market players, it is inspiring to see our solutions lining up with sector trends, and fulfilling the mission to decodify finance. We’ll see you again in 2024!

Would you like to see more about what we presented at the event?

Febraban Tech 2023: what you saw in this article

Febraban Tech 2023 took place from June 27-29, with the central theme “The bioeconomy and opportunities in a digital society”.
The presentation on the bioeconomy also discussed including people in the financial system, expanding credit, and decreasing misery.
Generative AI will not result in job loss. To the contrary, more people will be hired because it will be possible to offer products and services that we couldn’t imagine even two weeks ago.
Digital onboarding, as a point of departure for customer engagement and hyper-personalization to meet the most specific and varying client demands, must be prioritized now more than ever for institutions that want to stand out from the crowd.
Embedded Finance allows companies to understand their clients better, offering hyper-personalized services and adding value to all links in the chain.
Providing a tangible benefit to users is one of the current challenges of Open Finance.
Asset tokenization is a one-way street, however, tokenization for the sake of tokenization is not enough.