Digital money: the challenge of increasing its use after the post-pandemic boom

After the pandemic, Argentines’ finances became more digital. The boom in electronic payments and the advancement of fintech have often made it easier to pay with a mobile phone than to carry cash. Although there is a common diagnosis among users, actors in the financial system and the government that the use of digital currency is more agile, comfortable and secure than that of banknotes, the prevalence of liquidity in the economy is still high.

For this reason, both the private and public sectors are working to reduce barriers and achieve a mass expansion of these forms of payment, which are often the gateway for a sector of society to better financial solutions, more accessible credit. and efficient revenue management. During the talks “The electronic money revolution” organized by Clarione the future of the currency in the country was analyzed, even in a context of high inflation like the current one.

During the panel “The future of payments without invoices”, which was attended by CABA’s Secretary for Innovation Diego Fernández; Romina Simonelli, 2nd Vice President of the Fintech Chamber, Ualá; Emiliano Porciani, Chief Business Officer of Prisma Medios de Pago, and Chief Product Officer of Naranja X, Santiago Sánchez; talked about the importance of joint work and regulations to grow these forms of payment.

“We have a great opportunity. Cash continues to be the main enemy to fight for the entire ecosystem of means of payment “, said Romina Simonelli, from Ualá, underlining that in Argentina, as in other countries in the region,” there are fiscal asymmetries, there are informal informal politics and business and against this, the truth is that we must put together a cooperative battle, in which all entities, public, private and government, can work on this and eliminate these differences ”.

Along the same lines, underlined Emiliano Porciani, CBO of Prisma Medios de Pago a highly nominal context favors the use of digital payments. “Due to rising inflation, all of us have begun to use cards, QR payments and wire transfers, because it is increasingly inconvenient to go to the ATM. If we look at what happened two years ago, the number of debit card withdrawals represented 57% of transactions with these plastics; while today that percentage drops to 44%, ”she said.

“We are all in the ecosystem pushing for greater adoption. There is no financial inclusion if there is no data. And with cash there is no data,” Porciani said.

“The informality in payments derives from informality in income“said Santiago Sánchez, of Naranja X.” To achieve adoption of digital money, a superior experience must be offered. Where we need to focus a lot on reducing the stress of money management. We must not only think about helping them to get more money through a loan, but also about making them manage in a more agile and secure way. Today, for example, a company that does not charge electronically is more likely to be robbed, ”Sanchez added.

If digital money is more practical, safer, and more convenient than physical money, why isn’t its expansion even faster in the country? “We all agree that the advances in usability development that fintech has made in recent years makes it infinitely more convenient to pay with digital payment methods than to move cash. But people continue to use cash because they have a informal income and this is because Argentina suffers from a terminal bureaucracy, ”warned CABA’s innovation secretary, Diego Fernández.

In this sentence, interoperability of systems becomes relevant, which makes the financial ecosystem more accessible. In this regard Fernández announced that his portfolio is working on a digital identity protocol: “Today the whole society is digitized, but they are digital silos: exchanging information is very complicated for us. From the CABA government we are setting up a double infrastructure, which allows us, on the one hand, to exchange information securely and, on the other, to provide users and companies with a platform to act more efficiently.

“What is being done is open banking: the information belongs to the customer, but there must be this giving and sharing. If I play, I need to be able to open my data to receive data from third parties. That’s where the silos start breaking down, ”Simonelli said. “Obviously there must be clear rules of the game, to take digitization further and be able to invite everyday life, where it is increasingly difficult for people to withdraw cash, where they have so much easy access and where they can start making their mark: build that credit history, which will allow you to buy a house tomorrow with a cheaper loan “

“The e-money revolution” is part of the “The world to come” cycle, 12 talks between business executives, officials, social leaders, renowned experts and entrepreneurs, led by journalists from Clarione. These are meetings that seek to identify the keys to the future and to analyze the challenges that companies face today in the changing contemporary reality.

The cycle has main support from OSDE, Telecom and DESA, as well as sponsorship from Afarte, and support from Naranja X, Fiserv and Payway.