Co-CEO at Prometeo, the LatAm Fintech Main Open Banking Adoption, Reveals how They’re Enabling Monetary Inclusion

Ximena Alemán, Co-CEO at Prometeo, the Latin American (LatAm) Fintech agency that’s main Open Banking adoption all through the area, lately shared key trade insights with Crowdfund Insider.

Prometeo lately introduced the launch of Spark, which is a free-of-cost program for high-potential startups, Fintechs, in addition to small companies that present entry to the Prometeo infrastructure of banking connections with APIs.

In keeping with the corporate, this can be a nice step ahead in Open Banking within the LatAm area that has been traditionally underserved financially.

Qualifying corporations are welcome to hitch the free program provided by Prometeo. They may reportedly achieve entry to Prometeo’s fiscal and fee API connections of their nation and offered $5,000 in capital for six months to check options, optimize and automate their inside processes, whereas increasing the attain of their digital merchandise.

Our dialog with Ximena Alemán is shared beneath.

Crowdfund Insider: You’ve talked about that Prometeo is the biggest Open Banking API platform in Latin America.

Not too long ago, you introduced the launch of Spark, which is a program meant for Fintechs and SMEs and it’ll provide entry to Prometeo’s infrastructure of banking connections with APIs.

Inform us extra about this initiative.

Ximena Alemán: As a Latin American startup, we have now skilled the challenges of the entrepreneurial path. At the moment, after constructing a powerful expertise infrastructure, we additional acknowledge the facility of fintech and monetary inclusion.

Due to this fact, we really feel the necessity and duty to actively take part in making this entrepreneurial path extra accessible. Making our API infrastructure obtainable to these startups at an early stage is a chance for them to have a robust instrument that can permit them to scale, enhance processes and merchandise, and work in direction of an open monetary future.

At Prometeo, we have now taken on the problem of “lighting” the flame of economic innovation in Latin America, particularly for startups. With Spark, startups can entry their customers’ data, digitize and automate their processes and thus extra shortly validate potentialities that permit them to develop.

Spark gives $5000 in API calls and the price of an API varies between $ 0.50 to $0.14, relying on the amount that the startup makes use of. They could use Spark for six months in one of many international locations we have now a reference to. After this time period, our workforce will get in contact to judge their expertise, outline their wants, and if there’s any additional resolution we are able to present to proceed working collectively.

To begin utilizing Spark they need to create their account by accessing prometeo.com/spark. After this, they are going to get entry to our Sandbox and  be supplied with an API key that can permit them to begin utilizing our APIs connections. It’s an ideal alternative for these entrepreneurs to check doable options that they had been considering of however couldn’t make it a actuality due to the related prices.

Crowdfund Insider: World Financial institution stats tells us that the LatAm area doesn’t have enough entry to monetary services or products. What are firms like Prometeo doing to handle these points?

Ximena Alemán: Certainly, our area remains to be within the preliminary stage of growing its monetary companies and merchandise. LATAM is residence to greater than 600 million folks and nearly six trillion {dollars} of GDP per yr, which makes Latin America one of many largest economies on the earth.

Nonetheless, you will need to understand that our economic system has many issues, together with many associated to advances in primary infrastructure (banks, hospitals, and so forth). On the similar time, as Sequoia signifies, the penetration of e-commerce is simply at 6%, primarily as a consequence of an absence of entry to on-line funds.

Moreover, as indicated by the World Financial institution, in Latin America about half of the inhabitants doesn’t have entry to any monetary product. Monetary exclusion, under-banking, and unbanking are issues that have an effect on all firms to various levels: massive companies, medium-sized firms, and particularly micro-companies.

Taking all of this into consideration, we’re working to construct a technological infrastructure that –hand in hand with the chances provided by Open Banking– facilitates and promotes entry to monetary data. The aim is to make this data the uncooked materials for innovation in companies and merchandise that don’t rely strictly on the banking operation.

Crowdfund Insider: You’ve stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for Fintech corporations in your area. Inform us extra about how the monetary tech ecosystem in Latin America is growing.

Ximena Alemán: Through the pandemic, fintechs have multiplied quickly within the area – social distancing measures inspired the digitization of transactions, and face-to-face monetary companies needed to take a step again. This acceleration was so vital that the variety of fintech firms has grown by over 40% in Colombia and 14% in Mexico, for instance.

The restrictions on day by day life and public interactions have compelled even probably the most hard-rooted, conventional monetary establishments to reassess their digital transformation methods. If clients can’t go to branches, digital channels change into the only real venue of trade.

Open Banking has seen an increase in LATAM over previous yr, so our enterprise vertical – simply as every part associated to digital transformation within the monetary sector – has benefited from how the pandemic reshaped human interactions. Nonetheless, nobody within the area may be unaware of the financial challenges we face. There have been large will increase in unemployment and debt.

Crowdfund Insider: What are your short- and long-term plans as an organization and enterprise for the rest of 2021 and as we stay up for 2022?

Ximena Alemán: Throughout 2021 we’re specializing in increasing our APIs connections within the international locations the place we already landed, we’re focusing on to get 80% of the market share. We launched new merchandise that can proceed to develop similar to our Open Pay service that permits making funds by a transaction between accounts, so there are not any delays on receiving the fee and likewise, no charges. This service is already obtainable in three international locations and we’re increasing it.

Crowdfund Insider: What are the three fundamental challenges that small companies in LatAm are presently going through?

Ximena Alemán: Because the IDB signifies, the primary and most evident problem is expedited digital transformation. Though this transformation was already in place, it undoubtedly accelerated within the final yr and never all firms have been ready to take the leap. That is significantly evident within the case of MSMEs (Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) because it requires going past the acquisition of expertise. Digital transformation calls for technical help and knowledgeable help to switch enterprise fashions.

Equally, there’s the problem of shifting client conduct. Presently, customers and clients are navigating modifications in a number of affords of companies and merchandise, and which means client habits are more and more variable. Consequently, firms have to be ready to adapt to those new wants and keep away from being out of date in any respect prices.

One other vital problem is the notable scarcity of digital expertise within the area. This makes the necessity for technical help packages and digital abilities coaching extra pressing than ever earlier than for firms wanting to reply to the brand new socio-economic context of the post-pandemic world.

Lastly, an ever-present challenge is the shortage of entry to technological infrastructure that permits firms to develop and enhance their processes. The chances that Open Banking has introduced when it comes to entry to monetary data in an automated and standardized method proceed to develop quickly. At Prometeo, we work to advance the technological infrastructure to allow that progress.