The increase in prudential capital (reserves that guarantee financial security) of fintechs larger scale was postponed by six months. The Central Bank (BC) published today (18) a resolution that transfers compliance with the requirements from January 1st to July 1st.
In a note, the BC explained that the postponement will give time for the fintechs ??startups of the financial sector) adjust the management and reporting systems and make the necessary changes. “The development and necessary adjustments in management systems and generation of prudential information by regulated institutions will require a longer period of adaptation than initially indicated by the regulator”, justified the BC in the text.
Announced in March of this year, the new rules, in practice, equate the functioning of fintechs to that of commercial banks. With the expansion of the segment, several fintechs created subsidiaries that started offering services similar to those of banks, such as digital wallets, but without the same security and risk assessment standards.
Under the new rule, the fintechs Larger companies (type 3) will start meeting minimum capital requirements, which will start at 6.75% per annum in July 2023, increasing to 8.75% per annum in 2024 and to 10.5% per annum in 2025. At fintechs smaller companies will continue with simplified rules.
Also today, BC approved a change to release Visa card purchases via WhatsApp?? The authorization represents a step towards the use of debit, credit and prepaid cards for purchases through the messaging application.
In a note, the BC itself clarified that the release of the functionality depends on other regulations, mainly those related to the preservation of competition and the prevention of discrimination in the accreditation of payment institutions.
“These changes are related to the implementation of the payments program linked to WhatsApp (Facebook Pay Program), which will make it possible to carry out purchase transactions with credit, debit and prepaid cards. This functionality joins the transfer of resources between its users, authorized in March 2021 ”, highlighted the BC in a note.