Technology is a central point in economic policies in Brazil. This stance was implied by the president of the Central Bank Roberto Campos Neto. Recently at lunch with the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febrabán), the official said that no matter if an institution is a traditional bank or a fintech, everything will have to be digital.
“There can be no more difference between a large bank or a Fintech. All financial institutions must be digital.”
Roberto Campos Neto
Since taking control of the Central Bank of Brazil, Campos Neto has advocated the adoption of new technologies in the financial system. In Brazil, they consider him as one of the most technical presidents that the country’s banking institution has had. Among the proposals is the inclusion of the Blockchain technology that is classified by the president of the BCB as essential for the modernization of financial services. In the meeting with Febrabán, Campos Neto stressed the importance of this technology for Brazilian banks and emphasized that it is an increasingly common technology.
According to the president of the BCB, due to new technologies, it is much cheaper to produce, store, and interpret the data, and this will not change. On the contrary, it will expand even more and revolutionize financial institutions.
“Technologies such as artificial intelligence and Blockchain have become increasingly common in Brazilian banks, which use these tools to offer better customer experience and greater security. (…) It is not about being fintech or bank. Everyone will have to be digital. The point is to understand where to use technology to serve the customer better, “Campos Neto emphasized at the meeting.
Campos Neto’s opinion found an echo among the bankers. The president of Febrabán Murilo Portugal stressed the importance of bank digitalization and said that all institutions need to adapt to this new market.
“Each relevant bank will have to be a digital bank, some with physical branches and others not, but they all need to adapt to the demand for more customization,” he said. “Banks have always been at the forefront of technology in the country, they were the first to import mainframes and manufacture computers,” he concluded.