Discovering Open Banking Benefits for Consumers and Companies With Prometeo
Latin America’s fintech landscape has seen rapid growth, with over 1,000 active fintech companies focusing on financial inclusion, as highlighted in The Fintech Times. A notable player in this space is Prometeo, an open banking platform dedicated to enhancing financial inclusivity and access to financial data. We revisited Prometeo to understand the evolution of open banking in the region.
Prometeo, co-founded by Ximena Aleman and Rodrigo Tumaián, aims to promote the adoption of APIs across Latin America, providing a single access point for the region’s financial systems. Aleman, co-CEO and co-founder, emphasizes the company’s role in fostering financial inclusion and improving risk management for lenders through open banking.
Aleman explains, «Open banking has significantly impacted the credit market by enabling access to customers’ financial information, allowing lenders to offer personalized rates or payment plans.» She highlights Prometeo’s account-to-account payment solutions, which facilitate real-time transactions and improve credit risk management.
Countries like Brazil, Chile, and Mexico have introduced regulatory frameworks to encourage open banking adoption. For instance, Brazil’s PIX payments platform, initiated by the Central Bank, has become a preferred payment method. Prometeo’s single API approach has been crucial in these developments, connecting hundreds of financial institutions.
Aleman notes, «The user experience has greatly improved, with digital platforms simplifying financial management. Users can now secure loans, open savings accounts, and make real-time payments directly from their bank accounts.»
In the past two years, Prometeo has expanded its network to include over 500 APIs across 283 financial institutions in 10 countries, driving a tenfold increase in sales. The company offers account-to-account payments through personalized links and QR codes and supports bank account validations in six countries, covering all banks in Mexico and Brazil.
Prometeo’s expansion into Chile and Mexico has enhanced financial inclusion. Aleman highlights the company’s 100% SPEI bank coverage in Mexico and plans for further growth in Chile.
Prometeo remains focused on overcoming barriers in Latin America’s financial ecosystem. «Our priority is to generate solutions addressing the challenges of an uneven financial landscape,» Aleman says. The company aims to expand its impact across Latin America and explore opportunities in the US market, leveraging its successes in Brazil and Mexico to further digitization and financial inclusion.