Financial Innovation

Develop more affordable, competitive and transparent high-tech streamlined financial services.

What is financial innovation?

Financial innovation is concerned with the creation of new financial services or products and the development of solutions that improve the existing financial services or products. The application of IT and communication technologies bolsters financial innovation by easing processes, reducing costs, and reaching out new users. Thus, digitalization is changing the financial system. Today, you may make non-cash payments from your electronic wallet, open a bank account online by using face recognition biometric technology, and even apply for a loan from your mobile phone, among other things.

How does the Central Bank promote innovation?

In this regard, the Central Bank focuses on the following three aspects:

1) Regulation

We analyze other central banks’ approaches, as well as recommendations and best practices of other international regulatory and supervisory organizations before applying them to our context.

Thus, we took measures to:

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  • Encourage competition , among financial institutions by expanding the range of their supplementary activities allowing them to be shareholders in Fintech1 companies.
  • Develop financial services and products by allowing the electronic deposit of checks so that financial institutions may, for example, process and save some activities in the “cloud” or add new clients remotely.
  • User-Focused Design to improve cashless payment applications or to incorporate new devices to channel payments through mobile POS and the payment button..

These measures are provided for information purposes only. More information available at communication search engine by selecting the “type” of communication: A (ongoing regulation), B (regulatory, temporary, or circumstantial regulation) or C (reporting or rectifying regulation).

2) Financial Innovation Work Team

This work team—having private and public cooperation—is made up of Central Bank experts, Fintech companies, banks, entrepreneurs, and public and private institutions. Its purpose is to develop tools and solutions aimed at achieving greater financial inclusion and an efficient financial system in regular meetings based on these axis:

  • Infrastructure and means of payment.
  • Cross systems and technologies.
  • Alternative credit and saving channels.
  • Solutions provided through the blockchain technology.

3) Financial Innovation Program (PIF)

The PIF is an annual initiative which invites entrepreneurs, students and professionals from different areas of the financial field to generate projects in order to face the current challenges: digitalization, electronic payments, bank inclusion, alternative scoring, usability, sustainability, data, consumer protection, financial inclusion, financing opportunities and inflation targets, among others.

The four editions of the PIF aimed at promoting financial inclusion with ideas and projects that foster cooperative work between the public and private sectors, which resulted in the development of 267 projects, 40 selected teams and 12 winners.

Current Edition: 2019 Financial Innovation Program | Closing Demo Day Agenda on November 12, 2019

For more information on the winning projects of each edition, visit:

2018 PIF: Front, Tu Cuota.Online y Transparenta

2017 PIF: Diamantes, Banca Digital SOS Móvil y miPim

2016 PIF: Conocer, Pasaporte Financiero y Message Bank

1 The term FinTech refers to technological innovations in financial services that could lead to new business models, applications, processes, or products with an impact on financial markets, financial institutions and the provision of financial services, Financial Stability Board