Financial scams: after months of negotiations and frictions, banks and fintechs agree to collaborate

Finally, banks and digital wallets have signed an agreement to collaborate to prevent financial crime, a phenomenon that grown up after the pandemic and what caused it countless costs both to people and to the financial system.

It is estimated that in Argentina, every 10 minutes a new case of cyber scams appears and there are on average almost 5,000 virtual scams per month. From January to March of this year alone, crimes of this type have grown by 200%. Losses for people and companies could exceed $ 1.2 billion, only in the country.

The banks and fintech shared the concern, but until now they had not been able to agree working together. After months of negotiations, the main sector chambers have decided to meet and sign a “cooperation agreement” to try to detect and stop cases of fraud and digital scams.

In a document signed by the Association of Argentine Banks (ABA), the Association of Public and Private Banks of the Argentine Republic (ABAPPRA), the Association of Specialized Banks (ABE), the Association of Argentine Banks (ADEBA) and the Argentine Fintech Chamber (Fintech Chamber), it was agreed “maximize the control of suspicious transfers between bank accounts and virtual accounts “.

For this it was agreed more communication between banks and wallets, which also includes the systematization of case monitoring and the protection of users and consumers of the financial ecosystem. They assured that this agreement means a “new stage in the fight against crime, in addition to investments in technology and awareness campaignsn, where the entities will continue to focus their efforts “.

“The dialogue and teamwork of public and private entities were the pillars of this agreement, which is the result of the contribution of specialists from multiple disciplines and which highlights the main commitment of all members of the financial sector: provide a safe experience to those who operate through digital channels, protecting both their assets and their personal information, “the cameras said in a statement.

fears

This deal comes after long months of negotiations. Although both traditional banks and fintech entities have agreed on the need to work together to prevent and detect this type of crime, fears on both sides have disrupted this agreement.

Until now, banks have placed limits on transfers to and from accounts in virtual portfolios (Identified by a CVU, Uniform Virtual Key).

According to BCRA regulations, transfers between banks and portfolios should be up to 15,000 UVA (Unit of Value Added). Due to the inflationary jump, this has raised the limit of over $ 2 million per day, but in practice many entities They barred operations when they exceeded $ 20,000.

The deal would remove these caps. And it would put an end to a struggle between sectors that has been going on for months and this included complaints and cross bills to the Central Bank.

This is an interesting step to achieve full “interoperability” of the system: according to the latest Report on Banks of the BCRA, corresponding to last June, despite the fact that all immediate transfers within the financial system have increased, those that have made more were those coming from virtual wallets, which presented a jump greater than 108% year over year in the number of operations.

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