With minimal staff and no circulating physical money, digital banking offers a new option to operate at low cost and with immediate access to users who are inside and outside the financial system.
For the time being, this 2019 appears with a wave of initiatives that mark the prelude to the revolution that will be generated in the sector.
This new type of bank, based on technology, emerged as a response to the questioning of users of traditional entities, in which their bureaucratic processes for any procedure have been the most common complaint.
Given this scenario, several entrepreneurs, many of them from the financial sector, became digital bankers in order to transform these protests into an opportunity.
Minimizing response times and presenting a large supply of products at lower costs (thanks to the absence of branches) were two pillars that marked the way forward.
1. Wilobank
In 2016, the Central Bank gave Wanap the green light, which was then renamed Wilobank. The entity is headed by Eduardo Eurnekian, of Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 and Corporación América; and Guillermo Francos, former director of the Province.
After two years of work (it debuted on June 30), it already celebrates 26,000 clients and expects to finish 2019 with 150,000.
"We saw a very large space of inclusion, which not only has to do with new generations such as millennials, but also with those who do not find the right answer in banking," says Francos.
Those who work in the informal economy, one of the targets sought by Wilobank, can access loans, credit cards and accounts in pesos and dollars, among other products, in addition to the possibility of entering to operate via Internet at any time.
For these clients, the entity uses the scoring that is done through the Veraz and offers them a credit card with an initially low limit. However, each user can rebuild their own score to improve their financial history.
"We are the first 100% digital bank and we want to lead a paradigm shift within the industry," Francos told iProUP.
Currently, at Wilobank they work on a virtual credit card, which will gradually replace the MasterCard contactless that is now part of their offer. In addition, it will offer accounts to minors, from 10 years old, and international transfers.
2. Brubank
On a parallel road is Brubank, the company led by Juan Bruchou, former president of Citi, who also proposes a 100% digital and mobile platform.
It is enough to download the app so that anyone can start trading and obtain a savings account in pesos and dollars to set a fixed term, get a personal loan and make transfers to any traditional bank.
But if there is something they want to differentiate themselves from, it is in the user experience that, after all, it is what will make them more attractive.
Therefore, a team of its own development works based on the needs of the client from the minute zero, innovating and continuously modifying the platform.
With Brubank, a Visa card with contactless is launched on the market, the technology that allows paying only by supporting the plastic in a terminal.
However, one of the newest options is to "quantify" the purchases made with debit so that they can be paid monthly.
3. Rebanking
"Centenial child" of the financial services company Grupo Trasatlántica - which has almost 50 years in the market -, this new digital bank was born with the vision of making the financial model a business that lasts over time.
"Rebanking is thought of as a 'product company' that offers the right service to the needs of each person," explains Stefano Angeli, CEO of the digital entity, to iProUP.
To have its benefits, it is not necessary to have a track record (history, in this case, financial). In this way, the firm targets the lower sectors that need a suitable banking proposal.
The client will obtain a qualification that will allow him to achieve more benefits, thanks to a tool that combines public information with the incidence of his financial behavior.
"Our goal is not only to complement traditional banking, but also to encourage the inclusion of unbanked or informal sectors," remarks Angeli.
One of the biggest differentials of Rebanking is its focus on the SME segment: it will seek to encourage more personalized attention, similar to that given to an individual.
On the other hand, the company will be the gateway of the American Express credit card to digital banking.
4. Openbank
Given the surge of these new players, traditional banking is not far behind and also wants to fight. Such is the case of Openbank, the digital entity of Santander, which will soon make its debut in Argentina.
The company already operates successfully in Spain and the local command is in the hands of Federico Procaccini, former CEO of Google Argentina.
In the Iberian country, the acceptance was such that it already has a million customers who can operate in more than 25 markets, in real time and with more than 1,000 common funds every day of the year and at any time.
"Openbank is part of the digital transformation process that Santander is undergoing, offering a simpler day to day for employees, optimizing internal processes and improving the customer experience", they indicate from the company to iProUP.
Locally, it aspires to be the best digital bank in the country, so it will have a complete flexible and agile platform, and will use a cloud-based technological infrastructure.
Among the products that will offer include the savings account, credit cards, loans and investments, among others. Each one of them will be released gradually once Openbank starts operating.
5. Orange
Although he was born in the traditional finance market, he entered the digital community with products and services -properties and third parties- to consolidate collection tools and alliances aimed at facilitating daily life.
Focused on financial inclusion, this strategy will be enhanced by technology.
"We are not going to stop being Orange because we have a much more digital layer, we have to rely on our DNA, which is the people," says Gustavo Fazzio, director of Financial Services at Naranja, at iProUP.
He adds: "Human, physical or digital relationships will continue to be the key to success, regardless of whether their focus is on developing new businesses, improving internal processes or generating new experiences."
But it is the figures that support this goal: today, Naranja has 1,137,000 active digital users per month and 2.2 million virtual summaries.
It is precisely the Orange App and the Payment Button that allowed them to grow in number of customers, who are linked through their online channels.
Also in that direction is the recent launch of Naranja Pos, which allows merchants and professionals to operate from an application and charge with a device (dongle) that accepts all cards and has no maintenance cost.
6. Wenance
With a more comprehensive proposal, Wenance allows managing personal finances in an agile and fast way. Two types of services work under its umbrella.
- The first is Welp, a financial platform designed to accompany people in the middle segment throughout their lives, responding to various types of demands. It is designed for those who are in areas where there are no bank branches and have the need to operate financially.
It also points to the subbanked public, that is, that it has access but does not take advantage of it. Personal loans and credit cards stand out in the Welp offer.
- On the other hand, there is Mango, a service based on traditional financial inclusion, aimed at the population that is not banked, but through a cell phone can obtain these services.
"Despite being a technological company with all processes digitized, we have a follow-up of trained personnel to respond to any problem that may have those seeking financial access," explains Adrián Mastronardi, CTO of Wenance.
"Digitization comes hand in hand with evangelization and education," says Mastronardi, who also argues that "we must break with the windows of space and time, since banks operate with processes of 40 years ago and today we must offer products that are truly personal. "
7. Ualá
With 14 months in the market, it is a mobile personal finance application associated with a free prepaid MasterCard card, which allows you to make purchases online and in stores. Its goal is "everything a person does in a bank".
The firm accepts any individual from the age of 13, thus contributing to provide financial education at an early age.
"In our first year, we managed to issue a record of 4,000 cards per day," says Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder of Ualá, in conversation with iProUP.
"We aim to have a debit card so that more Argentines can access credit," he adds.
Its most recent release is the payment of services and more than 3,000 suppliers directly from the application. In this way, just scanning the bar code of the invoices with the cell phone can be paid quickly, simply and for free, in pesos or dollars at the time of the change.
In five clicks
Today, customers do not want to step on a branch or form a line. That everything is solved through a mobile device is an invaluable option. Therefore, it is expected that these new platforms win many more users than traditional banks, provided they do not move faster.
From the moment we go, the use of these services is so fast that many would resign forever the possibility of carrying out any procedure at the window.
Such is the case that, in order to take advantage of the products of the digital banks, it is usually enough to enter the application or the web.
From then on, everything is a matter of a few clicks in which the potential client will be asked to scan a DNI, verify the identity, complete a form with personal data, select the products you want and, finally, define a name of user and a password.
All this takes no more than five minutes. The same applies to the request for a personal loan, whose approval takes about 10 minutes.
Also, an advantage with which these new entities run is that decision making in the review of a product or implementation can take about 24 hours, thanks to the dynamism that the sector seeks to print.
The new digital banking has the capacity to "learn from the market" and extrapolate it to others, so it is not uncommon for all of these developments to be crossing the Argentine border and making it talk.
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