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After the strong advance of fintech in mobile payments with QR, banks are preparing to play hard in a land that until now comfortably dominates Mercado Pago, with about 250,000 shops attached and more than a million people who pay with this app every month.
The interoperability of this transactional modality is coming. That is, any virtual wallet, in all types of shops, can read a single QR. And that there is total fluidity in the transfers from the online medium to the bank when making the payment."It is the last mile of interoperability," says José González Pereira, head of electronic channels at the Industrial Bank (BIND). Ensures that only some technical details remain to give total mass.The entity already incorporated in July last year the possibility that its app read the QR code to make purchases. While this process finishes being oiled, other banks that bet on this market begin to appear.In fact, in the industry it is predicted that, once the operational issues in which they are working are refined, QR readers will be another attribute that the entities will want to offer their customers.The last to join were those who make up the Petersen Group (Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, San Juan and Santa Cruz), pioneers in the launch of a virtual wallet linked to each of the financial entities that also incorporate in their respective apps a QR reader as an innovative and differential attribute.Among those who also rehearsed a play that put them at the forefront is the ICBC, with a rapid money transfer system (via QR) between clients already presented and that, for now, could not cross the borders of those who have accounts in others banks, waiting for the technology to be further refined and other players to launch into the ring.The last nut settingIt was a daring bet of the Industrial Bank in 2018, because it was necessary to wait until April 2019 for the Central Bank to provide that entities had to accept that businesses link the QR to virtual wallet accounts to enable bank transfers. This is how the Uniform Virtual Code (CVU), the "fintech" version of the Uniform Bank Code (CBU), emerged.More than a year ago, in January 2018, a fundamental step had been taken: to develop an international standard (EMV Co) so that the code could be read by any application, regardless of the company that installed it. It was the first interoperability milestone of the so-called "innovation table" of the BCRA, of which González Pereira is part."The idea is that any virtual wallet can be used in any store, regardless of whether it is attached or linked to a different wallet," he says to iProUP, and completes by saying that this independence extends to the chosen means of transaction: card or transfer CBU-CVU.Why is that not yet possible? Pereira refers to a technical aspect that is essential to massify the operation: "So far, the transaction is done in two steps. The problem is not resolved end to end." This happens because although the QR codes have a "field" (a space reserved to inform the CVU), today it is blank."In practice, a reconciliation or matching problem must be solved, as we say in the industry. For example, a supermarket that receives a QR payment via transfer does not have how to identify it and associate that operation with the entry of funds resulting from that purchase" , details the banker.In this regard, it indicates that a solution is being sought by which both parties will be notified of the transaction made. "An adaptation to the messaging protocol is under development for," he says."In this way, we will be able to give the customer the experience we wanted," he acknowledges. And once this aspect is resolved, payments with QR, which are already widespread, will gain even more popularity and other entities will see what BIND saw in 2018."More banks will be tempted or have the incentive to implement the reading of these codes in their app. It is another attribute to improve the user experience linked to very everyday issues," he says.Sandpit in progress"We have already made the necessary development, we have the documentation and a test environment (" sand box ") so that other wallets can interoperate with Mercado Pago under an agreed scheme between the parts of the Innovation Board generated by the BCRA," he reports. to iProUP Paula Arregui, VP of Product of Mercado Pago."Several wallets are moving forward with the integration and we hope to see this soon implemented. The date will depend on the efforts that each of these wallets make to connect to Mercado Pago," he admits.One of the questions that arises is whether once it is possible to reconcile both points of the transaction when the transfer is made, there will be some kind of notification for users about the operation.Arregui provides the answer: "The communication interface we have co-designed at the BCRA Innovation Board includes a confirmation of the payment that each wallet will interpret and communicate as it wishes to its users"In relation to the Application Programming Interface (API), the VP of Mercado Pago Product indicates that it will be key for all parties to "connect" with the interoperability system.Bank with wallet"For the first time, a bank also launches a virtual wallet, which in the case of each entity has its own visual identity, its look and feel," Alberto Murad, general manager of Administrator San Juan, of the Petersen Group, tells iProUP whose brands is Plus Payments."Plus Payments developed a virtual wallet that integrates all media (debit, credit, QR) and allows businesses to collect in person and not in person," explains the manager.In addition, it expresses that the app "incorporates the CVU, which ensures interoperability between bank and digital accounts and allows paying taxes, phone recharges, transport cards, transfers between people and in the future will have the modules of loans and issuance of credit cards. credit for those who want to finance their purchases. "From the point of view of the strategy, Murad emphasizes that banks, in general, seek to consolidate or retain the current customer, but "in this case the objective is to expand that universe to reach those who are not yet and even those unbanked. "The bet includes its own QR, with 6,000 already adhered stores, and several alliances with other code suppliers to achieve greater reach. But another great innovation is to incorporate a QR reader into the bank's own app."It is a way of giving those who are already customers that experience of use with a new attribute (which does not mean that they can also have the wallet and prefer to pay by that means) and who is not bankrupt, the experience of being part of the system financial, "he summarizes.The "cow" for dinnerLaura Borghelli is responsible for web and mobile banking channels at ICBC, a bank that has also been experimenting with this payment method, with the limitations that it imposes at the moment."Our intention was to facilitate the operation, in principle, to our own clients with quick transfers from person to person. In the beginning, without shops involved," he clarifies to iProUP.He adds that the system is very simple: "With biometric identification, which gives you a lot of security, a QR is generated without a second authentication (such as a password). The amount to be transferred and the reason for the operation are determined. The other person read or scan the code, put on your face for facial recognition and transfer the money. "They also offer as an alternative to enter an alias to enable transfers to people with an account in another bank up to the equivalent of a minimum vital and mobile salary, also without the need for a second authentication factor.How is it working? "Customers who adopted it and got used to using it are very satisfied," Borghelli acknowledges. And he anticipates that they are already working on the creation of groups that allow automatic code generation. "For example, dinner Friday friends," he tells iProUP.In this way, the banks hope to recover land before Mercado Libre, which, through its fintech arm, has expanded both in terms of affiliated businesses and in users using the platform. And have a privileged place in the era of mobile payments.