Multi-service financial intermediation entities have invested approximately 3,445.7 million of pesos in prevention washed of assets and cybersecurity as part of its role within the scheme to protect the integrity and security of the financial system, reported yesterday the president of the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA), Rosanna Ruiz.
He reviewed that in six years the users Internet banking increased by 3.4 million, representing an increase of 302%, for a total of 5.1 million of users to September of this year.
During the six years of growth of digital banking, subagents banks were also gaining ground in the country, with the participation of 57% of user service points as of September 2022.
The data, offered to members of the press during a Christmas meeting at the new ABA facilities, indicate that the country has been experiencing exponential growth in digitizationwhich led to the multiple banking to invest 1,500 million of pesos in cybersecurity.
The bank is aware of its “transcendental role”, as a representative of more than 88.5% of the assets of the financial system, and has assumed as one of its priorities preserving the integrity of the system and its protection, devoting resources to strengthening a culture of compliance, raised the president of the ABA, Rosanna Ruiz.
“The multiple banking is 100 percent digitized”, which represents better opportunities for the financial sector, but also new challenges who are pressured by a tax inspection of services through the internet, said Ruiz.
For each transaction carried out over the Internet, users and financial institutions pay a tax to the State. In that order, the statistics indicate that this was one of the limitations that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) had to access to bank their services.
money laundering
In 2022, the multiple banking Dominican Republic allocated more than 1,945.7 million pesos of its budget in the strengthening and consolidation of the prevention system, which translates into a greater endowment of resources that support its execution and more sophisticated and efficient controls, highlighted the regulation manager of the ABA, Lidia Ureña.
Similarly, the role of the sector for the prevention of money laundering is not limited to the allocation of financial resources, but also requires the provision of technical resources specialized at different levels of personnel working in that area.
Referring to that line, Ureña said that the multiple banking Dominican Republic has more than 413 collaborators specialized in the compliance function, dedicated to ensuring the faithful execution of the entity’s Compliance Program.
During 2022, the multiple bankingIn addition, he has taught more than 27,200 hours specialized training in prevention money laundering and financing of terrorism to its collaborators at all levels, from its Board of Directors, senior management, business executives and other support areas.
Agreement with Fintech companies
During the meeting, the manager of Digital Banking and SMEs of the ABA, Sovieski Naut, explained that the multiple banking came to a agreement with companies that use technology to facilitate processes and services of the financial system (fintech) to improve the user experience and expand the opt-in mechanisms.
As a result of the integration achieved between banks and Fintech, the operating costs of the multiple banking have decreased during the current year.
Naut explained that from 2021 to 2022 the services through branch offices they decreased 6.5%motivated by the facilities that digital banking offers today.
