For the general manager of In Switch Solutions, Amilcar Perea, today the mobile phone is the most democratising element that exists; it is transversal.
The Uruguayan company, which produces software for mobile devices that enable financial transactions in more than 45 countries, believes that interoperability between electronic systems is essential for all to grow.
Currently, most e-money implementations operate on the basis of closed systems, i.e. transactions are only possible between users using the same financial operator.
As a result, at the end of February the company took part in the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which, in addition to continuing to position the brand at an international level - now in its 15th year of experience abroad - in an environment where the major technological leaders debate and discuss, served as a stage for In Switch to present its project for 2017: to implement a hub for the interoperability of electronic systems that not only allows services or bills to be paid between different companies that use different systems. In addition, its project goes one step further: to also allow the integration of mobile solution providers that compete with the company itself into the network.
"We are working on an interoperability hub for different e-wallet systems, whether it is In Switch technology or any other operator in the world. We want people with different businesses to be able to interact with each other. We see synergy as critical to getting cash off the streets once and for all. Cash is expensive and unhygienic. It is the element we have used to exchange values for thousands of years, but today technology allows us to replace it," Perea said.
Interoperability
The Interoperability Hub for e-money systems proposed by the company will connect the different systems so that both the e-wallet (In Switch's flagship product) and other financial solutions can interact integrated in different schemes and ecosystems - banks and credit cards - with all operators in the financial world.
Perea said this can be done in two ways: by banking everyone and letting the large international networks take over the logic of operation, or by making different interoperable systems work together and with each other.
"Interoperability is necessary and we are the actor willing to build it through this hub. Not only so that money can be moved back and forth, but also because it allows sharing of business, commissions and even helps regularisation. The transaction between two different networks can be regulated in such a way that the commission is shared," Perea said.
The company indicated that there are already interested parties. Both banking associations and central banks in different countries have expressed their interest, and even some "incumbent" players (leading banks or telecommunications companies) have also expressed their willingness to participate in this new step towards financial inclusion. What happens with the leading companies is that it is useful for them that the market is strengthened and grows because they continue to position themselves," said the general manager of In Switch.
Wallet for the unbanked
The wallet works with any mobile phone and no connectivity is required. It acts as an element that could eliminate the need to carry cash or credit or debit cards. Through software you can pay or make transactions.
The person enables a payment through a password (with prior deposit in a collection network or transfer from my bank account) and can shop both on internet sites and at a supermarket checkout with the use of his or her mobile phone. For Perea, it is important to clarify that all electronic money used during these transactions is backed by real money in a trust and governed under the parameters of central banks. "To give money to my son, I have no choice but to resort to cash. In this respect, banking measures are insufficient. If I have a bank account, I transfer the money to my wallet and from my wallet I transfer money to my son's wallet," Perea explained. In this sense, the executive said that one of the advantages of the system is that it allows payments to be made - immediately - between people who are not banked, including financially, for example, teenagers or people in some parts of the interior. In Paraguay, the use of the In Switch electronic wallet has been so paradigmatic that today there are more wallets than bank accounts.
Mobile world congress 2017
With 101,000 participants and 2,200 exhibitors, the Mobile World Congress is the world's largest gathering for the mobile industry, organised by the GSMA. In Switch was invited this year; it was the only Uruguayan company to participate in the event that took place between 27 February and 2 March. In Switch, in addition to bringing its e-wallet, also took advantage of the event to promote its project for 2017.
Source: The Observer
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