One of the great purposes and challenges of the new digital economy is the financial inclusion of the unbanked, which in Argentina reaches no less than 52% of the population, according to a survey conducted by the University of Palermo (UP) and the Voices consultancy.
The country is very relegated with respect to the figures that are handled in the region: in Chile, the level is 26%; in Brazil, 30%; in Uruguay, of 36%; and in Bolivia, 49%, according to the same work. Even, it is located above the average of Latin America and the Caribbean: 47%.
In this context, a variety of businesses, non-bank ATMs and collection company networks offer the possibility of performing different types of operations, either for the segment that is outside the system or for the traditional customer, interested in receiving additional solutions .
For just over a year, the withdrawal of cash in pharmacies, supermarkets and service stations, among other businesses, has become more common. In particular, in times of long holidays and cashiers empty or out of service.
In this way, a practice that was occasional began to gain ground and is already imposed as an alternative to the bank teller.The new extrabanking ATMs
To the traditional Link and Banelco, this year will be added Octagon, the first network of non-bank ATMs.
The incursion is commanded by Odyssey Group, a company created in "a garage like Google", according to what its CEO and founder, the Argentine Sebastian Ponceliz, says.
The entrepreneur, based in Florida for 12 years, will invest U.S. $ 50 million in two years to launch the domestic market. Now, the firm works against the clock and completes details to start operating in the first quarter.
The operation of these devices is simple:
- The company provides the ATMs and deals with its installation, maintenance and technical support.
- Investors, who pay to buy these machines, can be banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, kiosks, public transport terminals, shopping malls, service stations, among others.- The equipment works by connecting to the interbank networks Cirrus (Mastercard) and Plus (Visa), as in other countries.
"We provide ATMs and we take care of their installation and upload it daily, for which we will have our own logistics company, but investors are the ones who put the money to buy them," says the businessman.
He adds: "They can be from supermarket chains to banks, but also investors who want to enter the business, with an initial outlay of $ 10,000 per device."
Two models will arrive in Argentina:
- Sirius I, which allows you to extract money and check balances.
- Sirius II, a multifunction cashier that also allows the purchase of virtual currencies, the granting of microcredits, service payments, transfers between people, cardless withdrawals and insurance sales, among other options.According to the company, if a good location is chosen, the recovery of the investment can be quick: they talk for less than a year.
They also highlight the stores that have these terminals may offer an increase in transit at the point of sale and generate new customers, in addition to reducing costs related to the security and transfer of funds, as they can deposit the cash generated on their own terminal.
The owners of these ATMs will be the ones who will decide if they impose a surcharge on the transactions.
The arrival of this company in Argentina and the incorporation of the extra banking terminals arise from the regulations of the Central Bank, which deregulated the activity of the ATMs.
Currently, there are 15,000 money vending machines installed throughout Argentina. That is, one every 2,866 inhabitants.
This figure shows that at the local level it is very far from other countries: in the United States there is one every 600 and in Europe, one every 800. According to Odissey Group, to reach the ratio of 800 inhabitants per terminal, 40,500 new ones would be needed.Cash everywhereParallel to the arrival of this network of extrabanking ATMs in the country, the number of establishments that offer users the possibility of withdrawing cash with their debit card purchases continues to grow.
According to Prisma Medios de Pago, licensee of Visa and instrumenter of the Extra Cash system, the number of businesses offering this service increased 35% in December 2018 compared to the same month last year.
Among them are Farmacity, Garbarino, Coto, McDonald's and YPF. The same applies to the volume of transactions, which registered a strong increase in recent months.
"Extra Cash is becoming an increasingly common form of cash withdrawal among Argentines," says Agustín Parodi, manager of Acquirer Products in the company's Media de Pago division.
"Today we have more than 10,000 points throughout the country, where customers can withdraw money, with a limit of $ 5,000, without having to go to the bank, taking advantage of their time in an action as usual as shopping or loading naphtha", Add.
The increasing level of adoption is seen in the increase in the volume of extraction, which also rebounded 35% in the year-on-year comparison.
In addition to this extraction method, the collection networks, such as Rapipago and Pago Fácil, allow cash to be withdrawn from their premises, thus becoming an additional option for banking and non-bank terminals such as Octagon.Here you do not have to be a client of a bank to access services such as sending and withdrawing money or making a payment for a service, because cash is used.
From Rapipago explain that between 50% and 60% of its users are banked and belong to middle and lower middle sectors, so the inclusion of the segment outside the financial market is reduced.
"In 2018, the payment and withdrawal system increased between 10% and 13% in volume operated," explains Gustavo Gómez, general manager of Gire SA, owner of the Rapipago network, and adds: "This percentage is similar in matters of transactions. "
The breakdown of these figures shows that 8% use this method to pay for services, while 5% do so to extract money. Also, in these collection networks began to implement in recent months the ability to settle tickets through the debit card.Why if you pay in cash it can be more expensive
According to the Argentine Chamber of Tax Collection and Services Extrabanking Companies (CAECEIS), during the first six months of its implementation more than 2 million people turned to the payment of services and taxes through debit.
The entity - which includes BICA ÁGIL, PagoFácil, RIPSA, Rapipago, Pluspagos, Multipago, CobroExpress, ProntoPago and ProvinciaNet - explains that its affiliates already serve about 20 million people per month.Since the end of 2017, large investments have been made in the outlets, with technology, POS devices and campaigns aimed at promoting the change of customer habits in the use of physical money.
The notes and coins circulating in Argentina amount to US $ 700 per inhabitant according to different surveys.
According to CAECEIS, there are currently some 10 million people who often withdraw money from their accounts and are only managed with cash, which still speaks of a certain immaturity in the adoption of digital media.
On the other hand, these extrabanking networks reduce the cost of transferring money for those companies to which they provide collection services, while banks also benefit by decreasing ticket sales. In this way, the financial system as a whole reduces the use of "cash".
However, this type of service has a counterpart: since the BCRA began to promote the use of electronic means, banks took measures to discourage the receipt of physical money by charging a small fee to businesses that offer non-bank services.
Due to this, CAECEIS warns about the possible need to pass this cost on to users, so the extraction of money may be tied to an additional expense.
"Both supermarkets and public service companies and those that receive cash from their customers sooner or later transfer it to the price of their products or services," says Ignacio Piccatto, Operations Manager of Cobro Express.Banking correspondents
In an increasingly digital scenario, the entities point all their guns to the expansion of their services, either through new proposals (coffee banking, coworking, automated services, etc.) as well as the modernization of their processes and the possibility to reach spaces where financial services are non-existent.At the end of last November, the BCRA promoted banking correspondents, which allow banks to offer most of their services in commercial spaces such as service stations, supermarkets, pharmacies or state mail, which is no longer limited to mere money extraction.
"This will allow users, among other operations, to open an account, subscribe a fixed term, make their payments and obtain loans in places where they usually carry out daily activities," the monetary authority said in a statement.
"This regulation will especially favor those who live far from bank branches and is part of a permanent goal of achieving greater financial inclusion," he said.
The Galicia is already working for it with another type of multiformat branches adapted to the requirements of each square and plans to disembark in industrial parks or hidden regions where previously they were not, such as Viedma or Bahía Blanca.
The norm also establishes the conditions under which banking correspondents must act, in which the responsibility for their activities remains on the banks. That is why it includes compliance with minimum safety standards and requirements that ensure that the provision of services is carried out transparently.