The director of Technology at the company Ebclosión, Derick Brol, indicates that in Central America in 2011 there were mobile phone banking services in about 8 banks in Guatemala, 4 in El Salvador and 3 in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The services offered include balance inquiries, transactions between own accounts and blocks.

According to Siglo21.com.gt in Guatemala, where the use of this service is more widespread than in other countries, mobile payments are offered by the Banco Industrial (BI), G & T and BAC. Others, such as Reformador, BAM, Bantrab, and Internacional offer balance inquiries, transactions and blocks.

The chairman of the Committee of Software Export (SOFEX), Edgar Santos, indicates that mobile banking is beneficial in terms of safety, since each time a transaction is made by credit or debit card the user receives a notification, thereby reducing electronic fraud by cloned cards.

As for safety, in case of theft of a cell phone, there is no problem, as balance inquiry messages and other data are not stored. Information on the phone is encrypted, adds the article.

Source: sigloxxi.com

More on this topic

Guatemala: Mobile Banking Growing

June 2015

Payment transfers and basic services are the types of transaction most made by the 708 thousand users of mobile financial services recorded in the country.

82.9% of users of financial services are concentrated in the department of Guatemala, equivalent to 587,366 affiliated mobile customers.

Standards Defined for Mobile Banking in Guatemala

July 2011

Authorities and bankers will discuss the rules that regulate cell phone banking.

Within weeks, Guatemalans will be able to perform banking transactions using only their cell phones.

If the review of regulations by the Association of Banks is fruitful, the regulations will then be sent to the Monetary Board at the Bank of Guatemala, for approval and validity.

Guatemala: Telefonica Offers Services to Banks

July 2011

The Large Business Division of Telefonica yesterday presented remote banking services to domestic banks for performing financial transactions through mobile phones, using a “cloud” computing platform.

Rudy Hoffens , manager in Guatemala for the large business division of the firm, said the pilot program will be implemented in Central America and will then be extended to Latin America.

IFC Invests in Mobile Banking Development in LA

October 2010

IFC made a $ 3 million investment and an additional $ 2 million for YellowPepper company in Panama.

The investment will support expansion of mobile banking and access to financial services in Latin America. This is the first capital of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, in English), in a mobile banking firm in Latin America and brings the total investment in YellowPepper to over U.S $ 15 million.