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Fintonic survey points to need for more transparency in banking

Monday, November 23, 2015 — 17:01:20 (EST)

Madrid, Spain, Nov. 23, 2015 –– Fintonic, the leading next generation financial services provider in Spain and Latin America, today announced findings from its recent survey around financial wellness in Latin America and the United States. Results provide insight into the loan market, top expenditures and sentiments toward current banking institutions, pointing to a need for more transparent banking.

According to the study that Latin American countries such as Colombia, Chile and Mexico appear to focus more of an effort toward investing in their future compared to the US. The survey found that on average, between a quarter and one third of Latin Americans in Mexico, Columbia and Chile include education as one of their top three monthly expenditures. In contrast, education falls to the bottom of monthly expenditures with only six percent of American consumers putting it in their top three monthly expenses. However, as public education is scarce in Latin American countries, these results are likely due to their primary option of having to resort to private school programs.

In addition to education, Latin Americans appear to also have a stronger focus more on long term investments versus the US with more than one in ten Colombians and Chileans saving to buy a house compared to three percent of Americans.

In order to decipher Latin Americans’ feelings toward financial wellness compared to the US, Fintonic commissioned research firm, YouGov, to poll the attitudes American and Latin American consumers.

Additional key findings from the report include:

Emerging market consumers are looking for easier ways to obtain loans.

• In emerging markets, where debt is less of an issue compared to the US, research showed that it might be due to the lack of financial knowledge and resources available to Latin Americans. For example, amongst adults who want to see their bank introduce improvements in the near future, the majority of those living in Colombia (57%), Mexico (44%) and Chile (40%) are looking for an easier way to obtain loans in the next five years compared to only a quarter (25%) of Americans. These numbers demonstrate that lending in Latin American markets is not nearly as established as it is in the US, providing an opportunity for fintech startups in emerging markets to offer new ways of lending.

  Sergio Chalbaud, Founder and CEO of Fintonic, sees opportunities in these markets for a transparent banking solution. “The reality is that the majority of Latin Americans are still ‘unbanked’ but our research shows this population wants to learn about their finances such as how to obtain loans. This provides us with a huge opportunity to offer consumers a mobile banking solution that will expand their financial knowledge and trust.”

• Banks are a thing of the past for US Millennials— The overwhelming majority of US Millennials (87%) have bank accounts, but only 6 percent actually trust banks the most when it comes to financial advice. In contrast, Latin American markets still put their trust in banks, though younger generations in Chile and Mexico trust them even less. To illustrate: of those who trust someone/something when it comes to financial advice, more than one third of Chileans (34%) aged 55+ trust banks the most, but only 23 percent of their Millennial generation trusts them. These results coincide with the mobile boom among the Millennial generation in Latin America and their recent adoption of mobile solutions. While only 56 percent of the Latin American population is using mobile phones, US Millennials have had access to smartphones for the past eight years.

• Parents are the number one trustees— Across the globe, (US, Mexico, Colombia and Chile) the Millennial generation overwhelmingly trusts their parents over anyone, including banks, for their financial advice. In fact, of Millennials who trust someone/something when it comes to financial advice, 51 percent of Americans, 42 percent of Mexicans and 41 percent of Colombians rely on their parents/family the most for financial advice over anything else.

Research Methodology

Fintonic commissioned YouGov PLC—a third party, professional research and consulting organization—to poll the views of 3,086 adults (US: 1,141, Chile: 655, Colombia: 587, Mexico: 703). Fieldwork was undertaken between May 13- 20, 2015. The figures have been weighted and are representative of each individual country (aged 18+). The survey was carried out online.

About Fintonic Fintonic is the leading next generation financial services provider in Spain and Latin America. It is pioneering a new mobile-first way of banking and leveraging big data to the benefit of consumers in Latin America and Spain. Founded in Spain in 2011, Fintonic is the only global banking next generation financial services provide built on proprietary algorithms and a compelling user interface. Fintonic specializes in analyzing and distilling the wealth of information and data available to provide users with unique products and advice. Fintonic’s algorithm analyses the suitability of a user for a loan and presents it with preapproved loans that can be contracted with just one click. The platform also accurately anticipates key events—such as insurance renewal – and automatically presents users with alternative products and money-saving options.

Fintonic is already used by more than 350,000 consumers. The company is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. For more information visit www.fintonic.com .

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Source: Company press release.