In Peru, financial technology companies or fintech, have grown 20 percent so far this year. This was reported by the newspaper La República, on April 4.
According to this medium, in Peru there are more than 80 fintech, of which the online loan segment is the most dominant. “24 percent of these digital platforms are dedicated to crowdfunding, demonstrating that they are the technological investment tool chosen by Peruvians,” they said.
Oscar Salas, Country Head of Afluenta, commented: “During Cyber Ahorro, Afluenta increased the income of funds by 342 percent, evidencing that Peruvians are adopting Fintech in their lifestyle, to obtain loans online and managing your finances from your cell phone. ” It should be noted that the so-called “Cyber Savings” is a period of time in which benefits were offered to users.
“During the week of Cyber Savings, visits to the Afluenta site increased by 418 percent, demonstrating the interest of Peruvians to adopt fintech in their lifestyle”, added Oscar Salas.
The use of fintech allows users a wider range of services and products, facilitating the entry of the population into the financial system. In this framework, fintech also allow optimizing time and price, important variables for customers.
Situation in Latin America
As reported by Cointelegraph en Español on March 22, a study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) put Brazil at the top of the list of countries with more Fintech companies in Latin America, with 380 operational ventures, and then there was Mexico with 273 .
According to the IDB report, five Latin American countries accounted for 86 percent of the region’s total fintech activity: Brazil, with 380 operational fintech ventures (33 percent of the total); Mexico, with 273 fintech ventures (23 percent of the total); Colombia, with 148 undertakings of the total (13 percent); Argentina, with 116 identified enterprises (10 percent of the total); and Chile, with 84 fintech ventures in the country (7 percent).
The document explained the following: “If you compare the growth rates experienced by the different fintech ecosystems in the region with respect to the number of ventures identified in 2017, you can group the countries according to their growth rate among countries with growth very high (above 100 percent), countries with high growth (above 50 percent), countries with medium growth (between 0 and 49 percent) and countries with negative growth (below 0 percent) hundred)”.
According to the study, the countries that experience a very high growth (above 100%) of fintech companies are those that have emerging ecosystems.
Financial exclusion
It should be noted that for the IDB, Latin America and the Caribbean have a high rate of financial exclusion.
“Some 210 million people, equivalent to 46 percent of the adult population, do not have a bank account, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 90 percent of the total number of companies in the region, it makes it difficult for them to access loans due to lack of credit histories or liquidity”, they specified.
Also published on Medium.