 April 1, 2022 #TopStory 🔝 Acquiring networks in checkDigital giants Rappi and Nu have entered the market for payment processing with the launch of Pay with Rappi and NuPay for business, which integrated into virtual stores, will allow the firms to take on the acquiring networks and strive to become the link between e-commerce and finance. Rappi expects point-of-sale (POS) terminals will disappear in the short term and will be replaced by mobile phones. “Much of the profit that [Rappi] generates from its activity stays with banks or financial intermediaries. What’s the logical step? To control that,” says Andrés Carriedo, founder of DesignBanking, a consultancy for fintechs and banks. “The money is in the movement of money,” he adds. Both Nubank and Rappi say they’ve focused on differentiating their products by user experience and by facilitating the check-out and making it more dynamic. “The plastic we have will eventually cease to exist,” says Daniel Hernández, country manager for Mexico at financial technology provider BPC. “We don’t know when, but all the keys are here,” he adds, pointing to his mobile phone. “The trend has been totally reversed. The service model tends to be more remote than physical so we see the birth of banks without branches. We’re all making an effort to get to mobile payments,” he adds. #Regulation 📜Ecuador prepares rules for payment aggregatorsThe Ecuadorian regulator is working on rules to clarify the legal liability of companies that process electronic payments, or payment aggregators. This will impact financial institutions as they previously had total responsibility for complaints and rulings. Mexico expands SPEI participantsThe central Bank of Mexico (Banxico) has published new rules allowing new players—including fintechs—to join the interbank electronic payment system (SPEI) while standardizing the protective measures that all members must have in place. Likidéo gets fintech license in MexicoThe crowdfunding fintech received approval from the National Commission of Banks and Securities (CNBV) to start operating as a regulated company. It was one of 60 fintechs awaiting a license, as previously reported by iupana. #Internationalization 🌍Clara arrives in ColombiaMexican fintech Clara debuted in Colombia with its spending control platform and credit cards for SMEs. #Investments 💰Latitud raises US$11.5 million to advise startupsThe technology consulting platform for emerging startups, Latitud, closed a US$11.5 million funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and NFX. The company specializes in helping entrepreneurs to set up innovative companies and to access and use capital. Brazilian TIVIT in search of fintechsThe investment arm of Brazilian technology company TIVIT said it has RS$100 million (US$21 million) available to invest in Latin American startups, especially fintechs, digital transformation firms, and cloud companies, among others. Uruguay’s Datanomik raises US$6 million in seed roundUruguayan fintech, which has an open B2B platform to enable companies to access financial information from banks, completed its seed round. Investments were led by Latitud, Canary and Andreessen Horowitz. Datanomik will use the proceeds to build an open banking platform. #Acquisition 💰Warren makes Meuportafolio its fifth acquisitionWarren, a Brazilian investment platform, bought Meuportafolio, a startup that consolidates investment indicators and clients of several companies. Warren was founded by XP Investimentos’ Marcelo Maisonnave and says the acquisition—its fifth in six months—will complete its ecosystem of digital solutions. #People 🙋♀️🙋♂️Revolut appoints South American CEO ahead of Brazil debut in NovemberGlauber Mota, a former partner and chief operating officer of BTG Pactual, was named CEO for Brazil and South America at Revolut. The British neobank is preparing to begin operations in November in Brazil after starting its first Latin American operation in Mexico. Stori hires from RappiThe Mexican credit card issuer has appointed Lorena Sánchez García vice president of marketing. Sánchez previously served as global head at Paga con Rappi. The unicorn has lost several executives from its financial divisions recently. Last week, we reported that Mauricio Schwartzmann, who led RappiBank’s launch in Peru, has become Mastercard’s CEO in Mexico. #4 questions with… Antonio RamosProfessional hacker, specialist in social engineering and SIM Swapping  What steps can digital banks take to prevent fraud? What banks should do is opt for good practice. You should think about security from the beginning, from the creation of the app to be downloaded to your phone. This requires secure programming, anti-fraud measures, dual authentication factors to perform financial operations, etcetera. Cybersecurity must thought about from the start, without hurting the user experience. As technology advances, so do hackers’ strategies. How do you deal with that? Can fraud ever be completely eradicated? It will never be eradicated. What you are looking for is an acceptable, controllable level of risk. We can’t accept a level of risk that we can’t maintain because you will lose money. But there’s no digital business that’s 100% secure. What is the biggest challenge in the cybersecurity industry? Industrial cyber-espionage is the big challenge. Although it has existed for a long time, it’s becoming increasingly dangerous. It’s a gigantic problem. For example, through cyber-espionage, you can access information about the launch of a new product by a financial institution, which gives you the possibility to copy it and appropriate it. How did you start your career in the world of hackers? My profession is as a mathematician. What I know about computer Antonio will be one of the speakers at the event “Fraud Prevention: How to Rob a Bank in 2022” on April 6. Sign up here to watch the lessons of a professional hacker – and fraud prevention strategies for your institution. Over and out |