IFT and fintech: collaboration in Mexico and Tanzania
Since 2013, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), the ICT regulator in Mexico, has implemented 34 collaboration agreements with universities, civil associations, other government entities and other sector regulators, according to a report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
In Mexico, inter-institutional collaboration is an important part of the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law.
Thus, the IFT and the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services Users collaborate on cybersecurity and guarantee the reliability of digital financial services.
In addition, the IFT and the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (PROFECO), the consumer protection agency, collaborated in the creation of the Soy Uso platform, which allows consumers to file complaints against telecommunications service providers and receive a quick response. to your problems.
IFT
This institute has further strengthened the framework for institutional collaboration in its 2021-2025 roadmap, a strategic framework focused on the development of a digital ecosystem from a holistic and collaborative perspective.
The roadmap has a strong focus on collaboration: each of the 54 lines of regulatory action specifies the entities with which the IFT has to collaborate.
On the other hand, in Tanzania, inter-institutional collaboration has allowed the development of the local financial technology (fintech) sector, highlights the ITU.
The National Financial Framework (2018-2022) lays the foundations for collaboration within the framework of the National Council for Financial Inclusion.
The Council includes the Governor of the Central Bank (Chairman), supported among others by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), the ICT regulator, who is a member of the Council Steering Committee Technical Team, and participates both at the executive level as well as experts through the Director General of TCRA, the Director of Industrial Affairs and a principal financial analyst.
In general, the TCRA plays different roles in the implementation of the fintech strategy, from ensuring that the technology and infrastructure are in place, to ensuring that subscribers are registered, and supporting the implementation of cybersecurity.
The Council applied a test-and-learn approach to the then-new concept of mobile money in 2008, when the Central Bank granted “no objection letters” to TCRA-regulated mobile operators and their banking partners.
To implement this approach, the Bank of Tanzania implemented regulations that ensured that non-banks (such as mobile network operators) could continue to receive letters of no objection to act as mobile payment service providers.
Just over a decade later, the ITU added, mobile money penetration in Tanzania reached 53%, with 29.7 million mobile money subscriptions in 2020, for a transaction value of $81 billion.
