INTEGRATED DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICE MODELS FOR FINANCIAL AND HEALTHCARE ACCESS

Latin America

In Latin America, partnerships in DFS for healthcare were mostly among private companies. These partnerships include financial institutions, healthcare providers, medical products suppliers and telcos. Many public and private entities in Latin America have started to lay the groundwork for regulations and partnerships that encourage innovation in financial services. For example, Mexico’s “Ley Para Regular Las Instituciones De Tecnología Financiera (Law to regulate financial technology institutions)” was set to take effect in 2021, providing opportunities for DFS companies to offer new products while subject to the same regulatory and supervisory requirements as traditional financial institutions.77 By creating this framework, the government hopes to increase financial inclusion, promote a formalized economy and transition the mostly cash-based society towards DFS and transactions. The law provides regulations for digital wallets, crowdfunding and mobile payments. In addition, open banking and application programming interfaces will be required among all financial institutions in a consumer-centric approach.

Middle East

In the Middle East, existing partnerships around DFS for healthcare are mostly between private companies, such as telecommunication companies and insurance providers. Yet, there is a unique initiative among public entities. In 2020, the UAE government announced that it will merge The Insurance Authority (IA) with the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and that the Central Bank of the U.A.E (CBUAE) will assume supervisory and regulatory responsibility of the insurance sector.78 This change will give CBUAE a broader mandate to ensure high quality standards to more than one sector, including insurance, banking, and payments services. Previously, the IA required licenses and bank guarantees for Insurtech companies to operate, placing a national cap on the total number of licenses. Now, the CBUAE can assure best practices in this area, as well as facilitate the advancement of new technologies across the financial sector in an effort to create healthy competition, encourage innovative fintech solutions, and facilitate financial inclusion.