Movii banking app to launch in Colombia

The online banking platform dubbed Movii is set for release in Colombia on July 11. It is the first in the country to provide 100% digital financial services, and is approved under the SEDPE regulatory scheme set up for electronic payment specialty firms.

According to daily La República, the app developer expects that "in the first years 5mn people access from their mobile phone services to pay bills, make online purchases with a rechargeable prepaid Mastercard, make money transfers, (send) remittances and buy cell phone credit."

The government revved up the SEDPE program last year to improve financial inclusion in the country, where 20% of the adult population lacks access to banking services (49% in the case of rural residents).

The Movii app, available initially for Android, will give users access to services in the MovilRed network, one of the nation's largest electronic transaction companies, whose principal focus has been payment processing for mobile phone services. Users will also be able to carry out transactions at Baloto and other chain stores, La República reported.

Last fall, MovilRed CEO Hernando Rubio, speaking of the upcoming launch in local media outlet Dinero, said the firm sought the SEDPE license because most of its customers are at the low end of the economic ladder, and MovilRed seeks to enable them to create a payment history that later serves to better access credit from traditional financial institutions. "Today we only have the information about who makes money, but not who pays or recharges accounts, and they also have the right. We want to make the invisible visible," he said.

Services available to Movii users by the end of the year include: creation of savings accounts where users can save up to three monthly minimum wages (currently US$816); a prepaid rechargeable card that can be bought through the app or in national supermarkets; transferring money between users at no cost; buy online services like Spotify, Playstation and others; and bill payment for more than 800 private and public sector accounts.