From Quebec to Bogota, Miami to Lima and Kingston to Rio de Janeiro, a new wave of disruption is unfolding across the Americas, driven by technology, economic and geopolitical changes in addition to a shift in consumer behaviors. With a presence in the region for many years, BPC helps financial institutions navigate these changes and differentiate through innovative digital banking and payment experiences.
Financial institutions have gone through a period of tremendous change and difficult operating conditions, from the ripple effect of the credit crunch on Wall Street to the Tequila effect in Mexico. Nevertheless, inflation and high volatility have had positive effects on financial institutions who emerged from these crises stronger and more stable, putting the lessons learned into action to help them address future market changes.
A wave of disruption has come in the form of fintech startups flourishing on the back of the rise of ecommerce. In theNorthern Americas, credit adoption, responsive banking and fintech aggregation are changing the way customers manage their finances. To the South where cash is king with 85% of transactions conducted in cash across LATAM, payment and alternative payment remains the most relevant segment while ride-hailing companies tap into financing options for their millions of drivers, leveraging alternative scoring data. Finance is now at the crossroads of ecommerce, urban and digital mobile lifestyles.
Through the smart use of technology, BPC is addressing real-life needs. The SmartVista suite supports financial institutions and governments across the Americas, responding to each country’s particular needs, from finance to mobility to create ecosystems of value.
Financial institutions across the region are being disrupted by new entrants. Nubank in Brazil, Ualá in Argentina, Koho in Canada, Bank Mobile in the USA, and Albo and Klar in Mexico are forcing traditional institutions to offer lower interest rates and more affordable and convenient services.
This drive for digital banking adoption is bringing many opportunities, moving banks away from cash and expensive branch-based services and opening up a host of opportunities to tap into new market segments which were too costly to serve previously.
BPC has designed its Digital Banking suite with customers in mind, making banking accessible through mobile-first, affordable and easy to enroll and use services. The SmartVista suite has proven its effectiveness with one million customers acquired in the space of a year in Africa and the launch of TONIK bank to serve remote populations in Asia.
Digital payments come in many forms across the region. In North America, online payments for e-commerce purchases are made by card. However, in Latin America (where card usage is low) e-commerce customers can choose to pay by cash at a local merchant or agent where they receive a code to validate their purchase online.
This disparity illustrates how the industry is ripe for cross-border digital payment platforms that blend modern and accessible forms of payment. From local debit and international credit to alternative wallets, direct account transfer to cash converted into QR codes at merchants, offering a one-stop platform would address most of the challenges faced by online and offline shoppers.
The BPC Payments suite includes:
Rapid urbanization across Northern and Southern parts of America poses several challenges for municipalities as they must scale city infrastructures and operations to handle the influx of new citizens. Across the region, governments have engaged in a race to better connect their citizen with city services with Detroit, Bogota, San Diego, São Paulo, Austin, Toronto leading the pack.
At BPC we believe in the value of ecosystems. We have designed our smart city and fare collection solution bringing all players together from public and private transport, ride-hailing, toll gates, parking, city attractions…enabling real-time micro-payments across the city in replacement of cash, paper-based ticket.
BPC launches ‘seed to market’ agritech ecosystem in India.
Today at the Safal Fasal introduction event in Lucknow, BPC launches a marketplace initiative to support the Indian agriculture community from ‘seed to market’ – digital where possible, physical where needed. The initiative is supported by a wide range of industry players ranging from agriculture (service) providers, buyers, government and financial institutions to the end farmer, often organised in local co-operatives.