In a crucial year for the fintech sector, driven by the economic deregulation introduced by Javier Milei, Mercado Pagothe digital wallet of the giant Mercado Libre which manages 86% of the balances invested in monetary fundsis about to kick the board and announce the possibility of buy dollars from the app, something that until now was not possible.
He himself was the founder of the unicorn, Marcos Galperín, which confirmed what had been an open secret for a few weeks. Always with a high profile on social media, through her X account she revealed in an exchange with a follower that this new feature “is coming” to the app.
MEP dollar arriving.
—Marcos Galperin (@marcos_galperin) February 7, 2024
According to fintech sources, at this time, The option to change pesos to dollars is in test modewhich in tech company jargon is known as phase of Friends and family (friends and family). While there is no firm launch date yet for this new option, the industry hopes that following the CEO’s announcement, imminent.
Until now, Mercado Pago It only allows you to invest account balances through a mutual fund, with a rate that suffers “the contraction” of the reference returns. of the economy that the Central Bank promoted last December, but with daily returns.
The giant, who It has more than 12 million accounts in the countryhad stayed away from other investment options, such as buying MEP dollar, Cedears and other debt securities on the market, a segment well exploited by its competitors, both in the fintech and banking sectors.
Therefore, the initiation of the purchase of the “MEP dollar” from Mercado Pago the commercial logic of the sector will change. On one side, will spice up the competition old relationship that the wallet has with the banking sector, which adds a new chapter every couple of months. But on the other hand it will demonstrate that the struggle with other wallets over the management of Argentine money is more heated than ever.
Anticipation for Mercado Pago’s launch grows as other fintechs add new digital finance management products.
With an increase of just under 18% this year and being the only “free” quote that savers can legally access, the MEP dollar is gaining popularity among the general public. RecentlyFintech Naranja X has announced that it will incorporate dollar stock purchasing into its app’s options menu.
The news comes after one of Mercado Pago’s main competitors, Fintech Ualá will incorporate fixed terms into its options universe and the possibility of crediting the salary to the wallet, something that at several times the Galperín wallet has stated that it is interested in offering its users.
It turns out that the DNU presented by Javier Milei upon his arrival at the Casa Rosada had opened the doors to digital wallets to accredit salaries and social plans, but the setback that the work chapter of this decree had in Justice left this option is in limbo. Thus, Ualá used its banking license, through the bank purchased by Corporación América, to be able to carry out this service and not have to wait for the political resolution of this front.
To offer the European Parliament dollar, Mercado Pago would use an alliance with a bank, even if not its own. It would be with Banco Industrial with which he already manages his mutual investment fund. Currently, BIND offers this type of management service to a handful of brokerage firms, fintech firms, crypto wallets, and companies in other non-financial industries, such as Ripio, Moni, Platform 10, Balanz and Bull MarketMoreover.
Source: Clarin
