LatamList – The largest private banks in Argentina announced the launch of their new fintech, Play Digital, to compete with Mercado Pago. Santander, Galicia, and BBVA joined forces to create a unique payments platform designed to facilitate e-commerce payments for traditional banks.
The new platform allows customers to transfer money between accounts using a unique code sent to their mobile phones. Furthermore, Play Digital will facilitate e-commerce payments through the use of QR codes for each payment.
The launch of Play Digital marks an important move to incorporate the digital payments sector into traditional banking systems, which remain outdated and inaccessible to many. Play Digital will compete with Mercado Pago, the leading online payments platform with 3.4 million users in Argentina.
The project is led by Rafael Soto, former CEO of Argentina’s largest neobank Ualá and previous CFO of Nubank, the Brazilian neobank.
Play Digital is not the first example of traditional banks making the step towards greater financial inclusion. Banco Provincia recently launched its platform Cuenta DNI for online payments via mobile phone verification.
Read more on La Nación.