The payments industry in Colombia : Status and future developments
Abstract
Colombia is transitioning to a less cash-intensive economy, driven by significant changes in the electronic payments industry. Nevertheless, challenges such as coordination failures, market segmentation and lack of interoperability persist. This paper discusses how the Central Bank of Colombia is proactively addressing these issues through the regulation and consolidation of the fast payments ecosystem. The goal is to make electronic payments widely available for day-to-day transactions by achieving high interoperability between payment service providers and capitalising on network and scale efficiencies. Additionally, the central bank is experimenting with new technologies, such as distributed ledger technology, which may enhance financial and payment market infrastructures in the future. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
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Author's Biography
Joaquín F. Bernal-Ramirez is an adviser to the Governor of Banco de la República — the Central Bank of Colombia. Prior to this he was Chief Payment Systems and Banking Operations Officer. He has extensive experience in public policy formulation, analysis and central banking operations. He holds an MPA from Harvard University, and an MA and a BA in economics from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. He was a member of the BIS-IOSCO Working Group on ‘Disclosure Framework and Assessment Methodology for the Financial Market Infrastructure Principles’.
Carlos A. Arango-Arango is a principal researcher and adviser in the Payment Systems and Banking Operations Department at Banco de la República. His research focuses on payment economics and financial inclusion. He has published work on industrial organisation, labour and monetary economics, and has worked at the Canadian Central Bank and the World Bank. He has co-organised global research conferences on financial market infrastructures and contributed to Bank for International Settlements’ publications. He holds an MA and PhD in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Andrea M. Duarte-Carreño is an economist with a master’s degree in economics from the National University of Colombia and in public policy and international economics from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. She specialises in regulation, supervision and public policy for payment systems, FinTech and digital assets. Currently, she advises the Payment Systems Department at Banco de la República. At the Colombian Financial Superintendence, she developed frameworks for FinTech and PayTech. She has extensive experience in risk assessment across various sectors.
Estela Martínez-Herrera is an adviser in the Payment Systems Department at Banco de la República. She is an attorney specialising in financial and securities law, holding a master’s degree in economic law with an emphasis on financial law. She is an expert in regulation and public policy design for payment systems, financial inclusion and financial education. She has worked at the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Regulation Unit as an adviser on market development and financial inclusion.
