Since 2015 El\u00a0Salvador has regulations that\u00a0provide\u00a0some\u00a0guidelines on\u00a0the digitization\u00a0of\u00a0Financial services\u00a0with the intention of incorporating\u00a0as many\u00a0users as\u00a0possible\u00a0and\u00a0adapting them to new times with two objectives in mind: the first, to integrate that part of the population that does not have financial products at a very advantageous dynamic that is widely accepted internationally, allowing them to\u00a0be creditworthy and improve their quality of life;\u00a0and\u00a0the second,\u00a0establish\u00a0guidelines regarding\u00a0Electronic Money and the minimum requirements to be met by companies interested in participating as their suppliers.<\/p>\n
The regulation\u00a0is the “Law\u00a0to Facilitate Financial Inclusion”\u00a0and its additional\u00a0implementing\u00a0regulations dictated by the Superintendency of the Financial System, which\u00a0has meant\u00a0an important advance in\u00a0regards\u00a0to\u00a0providing access to financial services to unbanked population, and at the same time, it enables the\u00a0inclusion of new players\u00a0in the financial dynamics\u00a0as\u00a0are the\u00a0suppliers of Electronic Money.<\/p>\n
However, although this is an\u00a0advance\u00a0in the regulation of\u00a0Fintech, it is necessary that said regulation covers more facets in order to create new business opportunities in a healthy, orderly and safe way for users.<\/p>\n
Why?\u00a0Simple: because Fintechs are much more than a product (electronic money)\u00a0or a traditional \u201cBanking\u201d service provider.\u00a0It also cover\u00a0B2B services,\u00a0which could support easy\u00a0and, above all, cheaper\u00a0transactions made on a daily basis through multiple platforms, could be\u00a0used to\u00a0provide safer transactions by establishing minimum requirements, for\u00a0example\u00a0for\u00a0data encryption\u00a0(even through Blockchain) and integration of it into the existing digital regulation (Electronic Signature Act and Electronic Commerce Act).\u00a0For this, we consider\u00a0valuable to\u00a0develop\u00a0a broader regulation covering more general aspects of\u00a0Fintech\u00a0but taking care\u00a0to\u00a0avoid falling into an over\u00a0\u2013\u00a0regulation, which\u00a0in practice\u00a0will make technological developments\u00a0impossible.<\/p>\n
Some\u00a0examples\u00a0of\u00a0what was\u00a0explained above\u00a0are:\u00a0supporting or encouraging\u00a0transactions with existing Cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin)\u00a0to\u00a0make payments by these means;\u00a0the regulation of capital raising mechanisms (Crowdfunding)\u00a0as an alternative way of financing;\u00a0and even the creation of\u00a0Regulatory\u00a0Sandboxes\u00a0as temporary spaces to\u00a0carry\u00a0out pilot tests of the new regulation in order to measure its advantages,\u00a0disadvantages\u00a0and\u00a0inconveniences\u00a0in a defined space\u00a0where its effects are controlled\u00a0prior to a general application.<\/p>\n
An example of\u00a0this type\u00a0of\u00a0regulation\u00a0is the\u00a0\u201cLaw to\u00a0Regulate Financial Technology Institutions\u201d currently in force in\u00a0Mexico (popularly known as \u201cFintech Law\u201d), which addresses not only the aforementioned aspects but also others\u00a0closely related and\u00a0very important, such as the handling of\u00a0information\u00a0flowing through\u00a0the\u00a0Fintech services\u00a0and\u00a0its classification\u00a0 as\u00a0“open data”\u00a0(which\u00a0doesn\u2019t contain confidential information),\u00a0“aggregate\u00a0 data”\u00a0(statistical information of transactions\u00a0that doesn\u2019t allow to individualize the\u00a0parties) and\u00a0\u201c\u00a0transactional\u00a0data\u201d\u00a0(related to the use of a product or service),\u00a0as well as the authorization levels that users must\u00a0grant\u00a0to share data according to their\u00a0classification\u00a0.<\/p>\n
The relevance of the\u00a0previous\u00a0example\u00a0lies not only in\u00a0taking advantage of the occasion to locate El Salvador on the map of the countries that are aware of\u00a0the changes that are taking place on a daily basis worldwide in terms of technological aspects, but also the opportunity that\u00a0internally exists to\u00a0facilitate\u00a0the participation of more\u00a0 financial\u00a0actors,\u00a0achieving\u00a0greater offer in terms of products and services,\u00a0an effective inclusion for users\u00a0who historically have not had access to\u00a0 banking\u00a0and the opportunity to\u00a0generate new\u00a0sources of revenue\u00a0and\u00a0economic growth based on cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n