“One of the principal innovations of the third study “Mobile Banking in Latin America”, conducted by Latinia between the 100 principal institutions in the continent, is the leading role these institutions have acquired in recent months in countries with economies with less specific weight in the region, setting a good example of the reach and dimensions (already global) of the mobile banking phenomenon,” stated the authors of the report.
“Their participation, which previous studies only mentioned in passing, has now acquired notable relevance, partly as the institutions of this cluster of countries (Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Panama, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Costa Rica), represented up to 37% in this study, producing a mobile financial services penetration of 48%, 12 points more than 18 months ago,” underlined the marketing department of the Catalan software vendor.
“These institutions are great news as although their mobile financial initiatives can be less obvious, all (37) institutions are among the top 3 or 5 in each country, ergo, supposedly more inclined toward innovation (despite being in less developed economies).”
Peru is among the most highlighted, not only for the quantity but also the quality of its services, and as a technological focus in the use of SMS messaging, present in 90% of the countries studied.
The banks in these countries, and the institutions in the intermediate (by size) sectors in the other countries in this region, are undoubtedly the biggest protagonists of the growth in mobile financial services in Latin America – remember that this increased from 55% to 66% in 18 months, with up to 24% more in market service initiatives.
