Me invitaron a escribir el artículo editorial de la nueva edición de la Revista Académica "CIES" de la Dirección de Investigaciones perteneciente a la Institución Universitaria Escolme (Medellín, Colombia). Aproveché para reflexionar sobre cómo llegó "La hora de enseñar posturas críticas sobre la inclusión financiera digital".

Link con acceso aquí: http://revista.escolme.edu.co/index.php/cies/article/view/463

According to recent IMF forecasts, while World GDP growth forecasted is 2.8% in 2023, in Asia and the Pacific, it is projected to increase to 4.6%, up from 3.8% in 2022. China is the largest contributor to Asia’s growth rate this year (expected to expand by 5.2%).

​Other economies in the region are projected to experience solid growth as well (Asian emerging market and developing economies: 5.3% and advanced economies 1.8%).  Overall, Asia-Pacific economies are expected to contribute about 70% of global growth in 2023.[1] For these reasons, APAC has recently been described by the IMF as a “bright spot in a slowing global economy.”

A Region of Opportunity for Fintech, But Also Huge Particularities
Being home to 60 percent of the world’s population[3] (4.3 billion people) and including the world’s most populous countries (China and India), one of APAC’s comparative advantages is that it has one of the largest fintech user bases globally, with growing fintech adoption.

This adoption varies across the region, with developing markets showing deeper penetration than developed ones. China is by far the leader, at 87% fintech adoption (use one or more fintech services[4]), with India, not far behind. Developing markets show 70% more finance app installs than developed markets. Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam saw the most demand growth in fintech app services in 2018-2021[5]. In developed markets we see slightly lower (but still high) adoption, where traditional bank penetration is higher: 67% in Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea and 58% in Australia.

It can be challenges to analyze APAC as one regional block, and several questions emerge. Should the ten ASEAN[6] nations be treated as a sole entity? Or compare them to India and China, two giants that hog spotlight? Or group everything together with economies as Australia and New Zealand?

​When attempting to comprehend APAC, the regional analysis conducted by Findexable[7] for Asia and the Pacific provide insight into some of these dynamics:

APAC Expected to Become the World’s Top Fintech Market by 2030
Despite regional nuances, APAC is home to one of the fastest-growing fintech industries in the world, and serves as the headquarters of numerous global and regional leaders, including: Ant Group, PineLabs, Phonepe, VoltBank, Grab, Policy Bazar, Judobank, WeLab, PayPay, CRED, Harmoney, and others.

There are 45 city-level fintech hubs among south, east, and west Asia and Australia, including Hong Kong, Singapore City, Sidney, New Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo, among others, where fintech is deployed to solve real-world problems. In developing economies, fintech is helping to unlock economic growth via increased financial inclusion, Vientam’s ZaloPay and MoMo, who enable mobile P2P payments for the unbanked, as examples.

In the wealthiest markets, they are providing better user experience and advanced capabilities to a population that has most of its financial demands solved. Here, fintech services are incremental, rather than revolutionary. Australia’s BNPL Afterpay (acquired by Stripe for $29 billion) and neobank Judo, are excellent examples.

​Because of the diversity of opportunities, according to a recent report by Boston Consulting Group and QED Investors[8], APAC is expected to outpace the United States and become the world’s largest top fintech market by 2030 with a projected CAGR of 27%.

Trends Shaping APAC‘s Fintech FutureIn the coming years, the region will undoubtedly evolve. Here are the major trends that are influencing the present and future of the APAC fintech industry[9].

• Heated Competition: As more companies enter the fast-growing fintech industry, competition is fierce for market share. Especially in markets where fintech is unlocking economic growth and financial inclusion, such as Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea, fintechs such as Grab, Tokopedia Indonesia, and Coupang have intensified the competitive landscape.

• China’s fintechs to look globally: Since 2021, a number of China’s fintechs have begun to go abroad as a response to the more stringent regulations on local fintech activity and the more difficult environment (e.g. Alipay+Unified Payment). We expect this activity to continue, as Chinese fintechs target Brazil, Mexico, Africa and other growth markets.

• B2B fintechs and Payments expanding in Southeast Asia: B2B solutions have received increased attention in the Asia-Pacific area during the past year, such as Indonesia-based digital payments platform Xendit.

• WealthTechs bringing new experiences: Wealth management platforms for low-income consumers, such as Syfe and Endowus, both in Singapore, represent a growth area, as fintechs seek to bring more sophisticated solutions to the region’s underserved populations.

Global Lessons from Asia and the PacificWhile the rest of the global continues to experience sluggish GDP growth, APAC may have some useful lessons that can be applied elsewhere.

1. APAC governments have been instrumental in encouraging the development of the fintech industry since early stages. To provide some examples, Asian countries were among the first to launch digital banking licenses to encourage the development of neobanks. Malaysia and Singapore also both have regulatory sandboxes that allow digital banks to extend services to pilot customer groups, before becoming fully regulated. Indonesia and Thailand, for example, approved a cross border QR payments initiative as part of an ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative. As whole, the region serves as a best-in-class example of how fintech friendly regulation spurs innovation.

1. UX and complementary services drive the rise of superapps. This context has led to the proliferation of neobanks and mobile wallets that have branched out to become either lending platforms or comprehensive financial superapps, including Line, Grab, Alipay and WeChat. Key elements driving the widespread acceptance of fintech services in APAC are improvements in the user experience, the speed with which funds may be accessed, and the availability of services from non-banking businesses. The global Buy Now Pay Later frenzy of 2021 and 2022 is only one example of how financial innovation is shaking up both developing and developed economies.

The Asia-Pacific region provides a fascinating case study for the global fintech industry from which to draw inspiration, as they work to revolutionise the way financial services are provided to the highly banked and underbanked alike. In future articles, we’ll delve deeper into this fascinating region and its vast opportunities for fintech and payments industry.

Last year was most likely the worst in the history of the fintech and digital banking industries. ChatGPT, however, drastically altered the debates in 2023. This natural language processing tool powered by AI technology that enables human-like dialogues, prompts a flood of questions, concerns, but also potential opportunities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is nothing new to the financial technology industry, which employs it in areas such as consumer personalization, loan underwriting, and insurance. However, ChatGPT is a public, open-source language processor that has the potential to disrupt many areas of the financial services industry, from chatbots and robo-advisors to the demand for highly trained programmers.

A game-changer such as ChatGPT comes after fintech’s darkest year and brings in both: new threats, but also new possibilities.

The Use Cases That Confirm a ChatGPT Revolution in 2023Many aspects of the financial services industry had already been revolutionized by artificial intelligence before ChatGPT became widely known. In 2022, a survey realized by Nvidia highlighted that 78% of banks and other financial institutions already employed some form of AI. Nvidia’s third annual “State of AI in Financial Services 2023” report[1], based on a survey of approximately 500 global financial services professionals, shows the trends, challenges, and opportunities of accelerated AI adoption:

• Businesses are speeding up the introduction of AI-powered software into operational environments. 20% or more of the businesses surveyed use the AI for specifics use cases analyzed, and the proportion of businesses that see themselves as laggards in AI has decreased dramatically year over year.

• 44% of respondents’ organizations are now using hybrid infrastructure for AI workloads and projects (to reduce costs, shifting investments in data centers from on-perm to the cloud).

• AI has already improved their business. 35% of respondents said the applications created operational efficiencies, and 20% said they reduced the total cost of ownership.

When asked about specific AI-enabled applications, responses varied from fraud detection to portfolio optimization to conversational AI. Surprisingly, 10 of the 21 diverse use cases examined by the survey are used by more than 20% of respondents’ organizations, suggesting the potential for multiple applications to influence how financial institutions operate. Interestingly, “metaverse / virtual worlds” attracted 12% of respondents, indicating that financial services firms are identifying a variety of use cases for virtual worlds, including training, new employee onboarding, retail branch simulation, insurance risk evaluations, and more.

​However, as we may see, natural language processing (NLP) and/or large language models (LLMs) highlights.

Additionally, according to a recent consumer survey, 37% of individuals who have heard of AI are familiar with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The same proportion of respondents said they have never heard of any of the other generative AI companies/products listed in the survey. In other words, ChatGPT leads in awareness, so far, among next-gen AI tools

But what immediate effects would natural language processing AIs as ChatGPT have on the financial business?
ChatGPT’s Opportunities for Financial Services
According to a PWC report, by 2030, AI is estimated to contribute around US$16 trillion to the global economy. In fact, according to the study, product upgrading will account for 45% of total economic gains by 2030, driving consumer demand, as AI will produce a broader range of products with greater personalization, attractiveness, and accessibility over time[2].

Specifically, ChatGPT may assist financial institutions in streamlining their processes, lowering expenses, and improving customer experience. ChatGPT is likely to play an increasingly crucial role in altering the Fintech industry as it grows.

The following are some of the most frequently mentioned theoretical applications and impacts of ChatGPT in the financial industry:

• Customer Support: Chatbots’ personalized customer support is making them popular in Fintech. ChatGPT can interpret natural language and reply to client enquiries like a human. ChatGPT chatbots answer account, transaction, and financial questions. These chatbots can also be integrated with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp for fast and effective service.

• Data Analytics: The growth of Fintech businesses depends heavily on data analytics. Data collected from customers can be analyzed with ChatGPT so that trends in their actions and preferences can be uncovered. This information can be put to good use in creating more tailored offerings for existing customers as well as attracting new ones. Financial data can be analyzed with ChatGPT to reveal market patterns, investment opportunities, and risk management.

• Automation: Fintech efficiency relies on automation. Automation technologies can help streamline and save costs with ChatGPT. ChatGPT can automates loan applications, credit checks, and fraud detection. Chatbots powered by ChatGPT can communicate with customers to collect information and documents for loan applications.

• Fraud detection: Chat GPT has the potential to greatly improve fraud detection thanks to its advanced skills in analyzing client interactions. Chat GPT can detect unusual trends, detect potential fraudulent behaviors, and issue alarms in real-time by continuously monitoring and analyzing user money movements and interactions, strengthening financial institutions’ attempts to combat fraud and improve security measures for its consumers.

• Increased speed, precision, and efficiency: Finally, the ability to handle vast amounts of data rapidly and precisely has resulted in speedier decision making and enhanced assessment accuracy. Altogether, it will impact in the business efficiency.

ChatGPT: Revolutionary or Hype?As we have shown, ChatGPT has the potential to radically alter the delivery of financial services by raising client satisfaction and customer experience, lowering risk, and strengthening compliance. However, like with any cutting-edge innovation, ChatGPT has its own set of challenges and limitations.

The prominent future of ChatGPT in the financial services industry will need to navigate through a number of specific challenges or potential risks, some of which are listed below:

• Challenges when deploying AI: When using AI, financial institutions will encounter several special problems. The requirement for experienced workers, and the costs associated with deployment, and others such as issues around the data privacy.

• Concerns about potential regulations: As the adoption of Chat GPT continues to gain momentum, it is essential to consider the regulatory implications that come along with its implementation in the financial sector. In the near future, AI will follow new laws and conventions. As legislation and regulations change, there are new threats to privacy and compliance that financial institutions cannot identify clearly.

• Ethical issues: ChatGPT and all NPL IAs based on historical data are at danger of bias, which could lead to discrimination. When dealing with sensitive consumer information, ethics are also important concerns that must be addressed.

• Inadequate understanding of financial terms: It’s possible that ChatGPT has trouble grasping the subtleties of industry and market-specific financial terminology. Inadequate understanding of sophisticated nuances and subtleties in language is one of the technology’s drawbacks, and can lead to mistakes or misinterpretations, which can have a significant impact on the quality of the experience that a client has.

While ChatGPT has unquestionable disruptive promise in improving customer service, fraud detection, and financial advisory services, financial institutions must navigate an uncertain regulatory landscape to maintain compliance and protect consumer data and privacy. The ability to strike the correct balance between exploiting the power of Chat GPT and managing risks will be critical for financial institutions as they achieve the benefits of this technology.

​In conclusion, the boom around ChatGPT and AI in financial services is not just hype. While there are some obstacles to overcome and potential risks ahead, ChatGPT has the potential to transform the financial services business. The financial industry has only begun its road towards using ChatGPT, which has the potential to revolutionize the way we do business with financial institutions and herald in a new era of superior service for clients across the world.

Comparto el artículo publicado sobre Blockchain e Innovación Responsable como capítulo de apertura en la Revista del Código Civil y Comercial n° 4 (Agosto 2023) de la editorial La Ley - Thomson Reuters.

En este artículo, exploraremos cómo la tecnología blockchain puede contribuir a la innovación responsable, abordando en particular sus aportes a estos dos campos, tanto en términos de oportunidades como de desafíos asociados. Para ello revisaremos críticamente parte de esta literatura a los fines de discutir la contribución potencial de la tecnología blockchain a innovación social en términos de responsabilidad social empresaria y economía circular.

Link web: http://laley.thomsonreuters.com

Comparto el Webinar en dónde presentamos los resultados de nuestra investigación realizada junto a Mastercard sobre Inclusión Financiera en América Latina.
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Multidimensional y dinámica, la inclusión financiera en Latinoamérica es un fenómeno tan nuevo que no hay muchos datos al respecto… y fue por ese motivo que con Mastercard—en colaboración con Americas Market Intelligence, empresa líder en investigación de mercados— comparte los resultados de un nuevo estudio en este webinario.

Link a video aquí

Comparto el Webinar N°13 del Centro de Finanzas Alternativas en UCA sobre el Impacto de la Inclusión Financiera Digital.

Seminario dictado por Ricardo A. Estrada Villalta Financial Inclusion Policy Tutor at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management y Head of Prudential Regulation en la Superintendencia de Bancos (SIB) en Guatemala.

Moderado junto a Magali Sakkal, Directora del Programa Ejecutivo en Inclusión Financiera en el Centro de Finanzas Alternativas en UCA.

En 2019 tuve la suerte de ser de los primeros entrevistados del que hoy es uno de los principales Podcast especializados en Fintech: Sin Sucursal.

Cuatro años después, volvimos a conversar en una muy interesante entrevista al respecto de TODO lo que pasó desde entonces en el mundo de los pagos digitales y el ecosistema fintech tanto en Argentina como en América Latina.

Comparto la entrevista en el siguiente enlace: Link al episodio aquí

Comparto la entrevista realizada para el último episodio de la primera temporada de de MetaBIZER, el podcast de tecnología creado por Diego Landi y Carlos Toppazzini. Hablamos sobre la política de cashback de los exchanges argentinos y globales, así como también al ajuste que sufre el ecosistema fintech y cripto. También nos metimos de lleno con el tema de la interoperabilidad, pagos digitales y con código QR.

Link episodio aquí

Comparto la entrevista realizada por Diego Torres para su podcast especializado "Bitcoin Para Todos" en dónde nos tomamos dos episodios para discutir en profundidad las aristas detrás de la inclusión financiera digital y los pagos como instrumento de democratización financiera.

Link Episodio 1
Link Episodio 2

Participación en Payments Day 2023  - 29 de marzo 2023

Participación en el panel de apertura del "#PaymentsDay 2023: El gran evento de los medios de pago en Argentina y Latam" Evento organizado por Pablo Wende el día 29 de Marzo de 2023

Link aquí