CrossTech Magazine - 10th Edition December 2022

CrossTech THE MAGAZINE OF THE CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS INDUSTRY

4Q 2022

Digital remittance services and its Impact on Remittance Volumes to Africa

FINTEL INSIGHTS Blockchain: The solution to cross-border payments

CRYPTO NEWS

BRANDI REYNOLDS Managing Director, AML & Compliance,

Bates Group

EDITOR’S LETTER

Priscilla D'Oliveira Friedman Priscilla comes with an extensive background in operations management, strategy, process improvement, consulting and training. She started her career in American Express where she led a variety of teams in the call center industry (executive customer care, dispute resolution network and social media response team).

EDITOR’S LETTER

EDITOR Hugo Cuevas-Mohr

After a year of challenges, the expected "Holiday Season" is

CO-EDITOR Priscilla D’Oliveira Friedman

bigger expectations for 2023 and a team full of members that

WEB EDITOR Virginia Martínez DIGITAL PRODUCT MANAGER Ana González CREATIVE MANAGER Carolina Busnelli GRAPHIC CO-EDITOR Marcela Molina CONTACT US AT María Auxiliadora García help@crosstechpayments.com The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the position of CrossTech, The Platinum Network or IMTC. The content here is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment, business, co mp lian ce, or le ga l ad vice. Co n ten t contained within this publication is not to be reproduced in whole or part without the prior written consent of the company. We welcome quotes of our articles by mentioning “CrossTech Magazine” or #crosstech and share the quote with us using our social media channels.

arriving and with it the joy of ending this year with big goals, make our Conferences the best palce for Networking within the industry.

Having you as our Conferences sponsors/attendees, consulting clients, and magazine sponsors is a conf irmation that we are going in the right direction and I want to take this space to thank you all for making CrossTech a great company to work with in 2022. You are the reason behind our efforts.

May the light illuminates your way in this ending year and throughout the one that is yet to come, as well as the harmony and joy be present within your homes and companies as a promise of a better future of all that is made f rom the heart.

Receive a warm hug and the best whishes f rom CrossTech team.

Happy Holidays!

COO, CrossTech © 2022 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CONTENTS

NEXT ISSUE 2023 JANUARY

SUBMIT YOUR PAPER PRINTED EDITIONS IN CROSSTECH CONFERENCES 2023 COLLABORATIONS | OPINION LEADERS | BE IN OUR COVER

CRYPTO NEWS Blockchain: The solution to cross-border payments Page 8

COLUMN OF OPINION The Future of RegTech: Uncover how Latin American firms can manage evolving financial crime risks with innovative RegTech solutions Page 12

FINTEL INSIGHTS Digital remittance services and its Impact on Remittance Volumes to Africa Page 14

Managing Director, AML & Compliance,

GADGET CORNER Check out our top picks of 2022!

Bates Group

BRANDI REYNOLDS

Page 22

Page 16

Check out the RECAP of our flagship event of the year with the graphic insight of the Conference, the Innovation Award 2022 Winners, and presentation of the Book "ENVIANDO DINERO", by Hugo Cuevas-Mohr.

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CONTRIBUTORS

YOU ARE READING Andrew Davis - Column of Opinion Andrew Davies is Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at ComplyAdvantage; he leads a team of financial crime experts. Andrew is an expert in financial crime risk management, speaker and writer with 25+ years experience helping clients design and deploy effective financial crime risk management solutions.

Cristina Loustaunau - Crypto News Cristina Loustaunau is a Co-Founder of "La Zona Tres," an educational project with the mission of being a bridge between protocols and becoming a great community of Web3 communities. Her work in Web3 extends to NEAR Education Stakeholder, who brings blockchain education about NEAR throughout LATAM. Cristina is also a builder strategist of Web3 communities aimed at building educational communities on the blockchain. Marketing Lead at Nativo NFT, a marketplace platform for NFT on NEAR, and Professor at the Technological University of Nayarit.

Emeka Madu - Fintel Insight Emeka Madu is an experienced business development, digital payments and transformation expert, with over 16 years’ experience having an in-depth understanding of the African and Global Payment sphere. A financial inclusion enthusiast with the vision to ensure that people who cant access financial services are provided affordable financial access. He is the CEO of RemitPlus.

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BLOCKCHAIN THE SOLUTION TO CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS

In 2022 global cross-border payments reached 156 million dollars but what are cross-border payments?

L

et's start in parts, cross-border payments are those that are made in different countries. These are vital to individuals, businesses, businesses, industries, and international development organizations. However, the fees for these types of cross-border transactions are often exorbitant and with long processing times.

Several global messaging systems handle traditional international transactions and connect a network of banks. A remittance

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transfer is a monetary transaction across borders by a company that partners with banks, credit unions, or f inancial services institutions.

These require a lower transaction fee than a bank transfer. In traditional crossborder payments, the ledger is not the same between sender and receiver. Thus, adding a security concern to the entire settlement process.

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CRYPTO NEWS Cristina Loustaunau Educational Marketing Lead & Stakeholder Near Protocol

BLOCKCHIAN, THE SOLUTION TO CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS Based on this detected need, blockchain arrives to revolutionize the way in which these processes are being carried out. Blockchain technology is a game changer in cross-border money transfer as it speeds up the payment process through the use of encryption technology.

The traditional banking model, both cumbersome and expensive in a world of cheap and instant payments, has led to the intensif ication of nonbank providers.

In the next f ive years, an acceleration of B2B cross-border payments is expected, according to a survey carried out by PwC in 2022. A recent pilot project by Faster Payments Service, owned by the UK Payments Authority, recorded the fastest ever payment f rom Australia to a UK payee: all processes conf irmed in just <36 seconds.> Another quite interesting project that is worth mentioning is the case of the payment company 'Strike' and its new remittance service available in three Af rican countries.

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Strike, a Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) based payments company, is making cross-border payments easier, faster, and cheaper for people in Af rica. The company announced the launch of its new service called "Send Globally" which enables instant and low-cost payments to Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. The service is launched thanks to a partnership with the Af rican payments platform Bitnob.

Leveraging technology f rom the LN (Lightning Network), a Layer 2 network for Bitcoin scalability, the new service allows users in the US to send money to any of the three Af rican countries mentioned, without transaction fees. By comparison, other remittance services charge fees, and some like Western Union (NYSE:WU) can charge upwards of 10%, as Cointelegraph notes.

Payments are made in cryptocurrency but are instantly converted into local f iat (paper money) currencies naira, cedi or shillings and deposited directly into the recipient's bank, mobile money or Bitnob account, the company said.

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High fees, slow settlement and a lack of innovation in cross-border payments have had a negative impact on the developing world.

Jack Mallers Founder and CEO of Strike

“High fees, slow settlement and a lack of innovation in cross-border payments have had a negative impact on the developing world,” said Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike.

The point to keep in mind here is that blockchain will not only improve crossborder payments, but will also boost the overall health of any industry by ensuring supply chain management, logistics, etc.

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Cross-border payments using blockchain as the intermediary technology are a signif icant advantage. Merging blockchain technology with cross-border payments is a win-win situation for both sender and receiver. Some of the characteristics of blockchain technology are: Information not manipulated Payment in real time Decentralized No intermediaries 10

When we talk about blockchain adoption for payments, we cannot help but understand that there are two crucial parts of the transaction: the gateway and the customer; no banking institution in between. A person living in the US can send money to Italy using an on-ramp service provider. The provider will convert the Fiat money into cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency can be kept in a crypto wallet. One can f ind multiple crypto wallets, choose anyone, and set up an account; After that, one can initiate the transfer f rom a bank or credit card.

Finally, you need to have the address of the receiver's wallet to send the required amount to the receiver. Once the money reaches the receiver's wallet, the receiver can convert it into f iat money after receiving the cryptocurrency. Crucial steps to transfer money are:

1. A consumer or a business wants to purchase a product or a service. Here we require consumer ID, retailer ID, amount of transaction, and timestamp.

2. Smart Contracts are for implementing currency exchange according to the realtime exchange rate.

3. In the block record all information about the transaction is made.

4. The block information is added to the blockchain consensus mechanism following a technical regulation.

5. The hash value of the previous block is added to the new block. This is an essential step to make the chain tamper resistant.

READ COMPLETE ARTICLE

THE FUTURE OF REGTECH

A

ndrew is a veteran of the f inancial crime risk management world.

Before joining ComplyAdvantage, he served as vice president of global market strategy at Fiserv. Andrew works with customers worldwide to design and deploy effective risk management solutions to mitigate f inancial crime risk.

prioritize in-house compliance expertise on the most challenging, urgent, and high-risk issues.

However, emerging RegTech solutions do not f it into a “catch-all” bucket. For comprehensive AML/CFT compliance, f irms need to review several areas of their RegTech stack, including:

[ARTICLE] The FinTech ecosystem in Latin America doubled in size f rom 2018 to 2021, fueled by increased regulatory oversight and consumers swapping cash for digital f inance. In LatAm alone, digital payment volumes are forecast to increase by 25% through 2025. As a result, criminals who have become comfortable in cash will move at greater rates to digital platforms.

This changes the dynamic of the challenge faced by compliance teams in the crossborder payments sector.

ID verif ication (IDV) Screening for sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), and adverse media Transaction monitoring Crypto and blockchain monitoring Internal and external reporting Any decision to invest in new technology can positively and negatively impact how a f irm functions. As a result, it’s critical to understand and analyze the potential implications before deciding to proceed. Above all, f irms need to remember that there is no one-sizef its-all solution. Compliance teams must identify and implement the appropriate AML processes for their business models and strategies, considering manual and automated approaches and their wider risk appetite.

Much of today’s security tech inf rastructure consists of legacy systems.

These systems rely heavily on human input, creating ineff iciencies and inaccuracies that impair not just the customer due diligence (CDD) process but the f inancial security of f irms. Some estimates suggest that false positives account for 42% of all anti-money laundering (AML) alerts.

These challenges pressure the overarching CDD f ramework that f irms must build and iterate. As a result, many are turning to innovative regulatory technology (RegTech) solutions to manage evolving risk prof iles, automate and triage alerts, and improve scalability. This can also help

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Uncover how Latin American firms can manage evolving financial crime risks with innovative RegTech solutions

Learn more about how ComplyAdvantage has empowered 1000+ leading companies to make compliance painless. Request a demo.

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COLUMN OF OPINION

Andrew Davies Global Head of Regulatory Affairs Comply Advantage

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FINTEL INSIGHTS

DIGITAL REMITTANCE SERVICES AND ITS IMPACT ON REMITTANCE VOLUMES TO AFRICA

D Emeka Madu Co-Founder/CEO RemitPlus

igital remittance to Af rica enhances access and convenience to much-needed cash, which is critical for many people's f inancial survival, growth, and development. Reliance on digital remittance has emerged as the perfect solution. Let us look at the impact of digital remittance services on remittance volumes to Af rica.

IMPORTANCE OF REMITTANCE TO AFRICA Most households in Af rica (Facts & Figures) operate below the poverty line, highlighting the importance of digital remittance. Family and f riends fortunate enough to live and work abroad send money back home, which is of great help, as can be seen on this IFAD website.

For example, migrant workers send between 200300USD monthly back home, which is about 15% of their earnings. However, this f igure translates to about 60% of the recipients’ household income.

Additionally, digital remittances, specif ically money sent over mobile transfer, accounted for 65% of total remittances.

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First of all, let’s def ine what is digital remittances: Digital remittances refers to funds migrant workers send back home through the internet.

taking a few hours before the recipient can access the funds.

Cheaper service charges: Digital remittance services charge relatively less for transfer support services due to decreased overheads and reliance on the already established ICT inf rastructure. This increases their appeal and encourages more remittances. With better exchange rates and lower transaction costs, more money reaches the recipients, adding to the overall remitted sums.

Digital remittance services became active with advancements in ICT, according to data f rom the World Bank, digital remittances experienced an exponential growth starting f rom the year 2000. Before 2000, remittances to Af rica were below US$5 billion. The f igure soon increased signif icantly, reaching US$20 billion by 2005.

Better access for everyone: Since a signif icant chunk of remittance volumes reaches rural areas, digital remittance enables more access by that population.

Many in in rural areas most likely don’t have bank accounts and similar facilities.

Having a mobile phone with internet access is enough for to access the funds sent to them which they can cash out f rom mobile money money agents in rural areas

As the ICT industry developed, so did the amount transferred to Af rica. The annual f igure was close to US$50 billion just before the COVID pandemic.

During COVID, the predicted dip in remittances was minimal due to people were still able to send funds back home f rom the comfor t of their homes using the apps of major remittance companies, and this hekped def ied predictions that remittance volumes would dip with most countries actually experiencing an increase. This fur ther highlighted the impact of digital solutions to remittances.

Since most of the funds are deposited in via the benef iciary’s mobile money wallet or bank account, many people in Af rica are beginning to open bank accounts and new mobile money accounts helping to drive f inancial inclusion in Af rica.

Below are the highlights of the Benef its of digital remittance services to Af rica:

The advent of digital remittances saw an increase in remittance volumes to Af rica, and with good reason. Easing the remittance process and making it faster, more affordable, and accessible and has more people sending money back to their families and f riends in Af rica, the remittance volume to Af rica would only increase as more companies f ind more innovative and cheaper ways for people to send money home.

Digital remittances have boosted remittance volumes mainly through the advantages they pose. These services are an important reason why more people are sending money back home to Af rica.

Faster funds transfer: Senders can access instant money transfers, with the slowest 15

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GADGET CORNER

a guide to...

GADGET CORNER

I

n this edition, we gathered a compilation of the best gadgets presented to you in CrossTech Magazine in 2022. This selection will make it easy to choose the Christmas presents.

Enjoy!

CrossTech

BUCKET LIST MINIBREW CRAFT HOME BREWING KIT Brew your recipe Avoid the inconvenience of brewing the old way and sit and relax while this kit does all the work to your taste, taking your experience f rom raw ingredients to a keg of around five liters of freshly poured beer in about 10 days. Ingredients kits start at 24€ for beginners experiencing homemade artifacts, while brewmasters can use the app to get it all done with this machine starting at 999€ Cheers!

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999€

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GADGET CORNER

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a guide to...

ENTERTAINMENT

SNAP PIXY Snapchat drone camera Snap announced a drone-like camera that's small enough to fit in your pocket. It works by simply tapping a button and doesn't require a controller to work. It's able to perform one of six preset flight patterns and, while doing so, it can capture photos and videos for you to edit in the studio on-the-go and share it to sahre on Snapchat or anyother platform at anytime f rom anywhere.

249.99 USD

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KODAK LUMA 150 POCKET PROJECTOR Ready to go This pocket projector is the perfect fit for your briefcase or backpack. Now you can take the professionalism of your work with you anywhere, anytime to make an impact with your presentations at all times. The Luma 150 portable projector is designed to expand the screen to up to 150 inches while delivering bright, vivid images.

It includes built-in, sorround-sound speakers and a headphone jack for when private viewing is needed. The battery can deliver 2.5 hours and you can recharge it via mini USB.

219.99 USD

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GADGET CORNER

a guide to...

ENTERTAINMENT

Our ears are so different.

Earbuds tuned perfectly to your hearing will sound incredible to you but mediocre to anyone else.

How you hear it

Music

The NuraLoop tunes itself to your hearing, allowing you to experience fully personalized sound.

It does this by measuring otoacoustic emissions f rom your cochlea using highly sensitive microphones.

NURALOOP HEADPHONES "Personilised sound" These measurements form your unique hearing profile and allow the NuraLoop to deliver you personalized sound. When earbuds are tuned perfectly to your hearing, you can hear a large amount of detail in the music that you’d otherwise miss out on. Every instrument is more distinct and present, and you feel much more like you’re there, listening to a live performance.

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GADGET CORNER

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a guide to...

HEALTH CARE The Soovu System includes: 1

Two wearable and rechargeable Soovu heat pods.

2

Soovu carrying case, charger, and disposable adhesives.

Smilewave TM status indicator

Soovu App with behavioral coaching, relaxation and movement training, and tracking.

Advanced microchip

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Battery

Thermistor sensor & heater

Bottom housing & magnets

Magnetic adhesive ring

SOOVU SYSTEM Wireless Pain Relief Wearable Soovu™ is a wearable pain relief device with patented HeatWave™ technology that pulses waves of heat at optimal temperatures to the area that hurts for effective, targeted pain relief. Combined with digital coaching and behavioral support, Soovu helps relief pain offering 3.5-hours of use per charge and boasts a hypoallergenic adhesive to make it suitable for those with skin sensitivities.

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GADGET CORNER

a guide to...

OFFICE GADGET

Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook The Rocketbook Matrix isn’t science fiction, it’s an all-in-one STEM solution! Designed for everything from math to construction to engineering to medicine, the Matrix is equipped with reusable graph paper to boost your graphing and diagramming capabilities. More than just a lab notebook, the Matrix works with the Rocketbook app to scan and digitally share your notes with anyone in the galaxy or to transfer your work to a computer. Plus, the innovative synthetic paper allows you to write smoothly with a Pilot FriXion pen, then magically wipe your pages clean with a damp cloth to reuse again and again.

We worked with several experts to develop our patented, futuristic technology, while keeping an authentic pen and paper feel. Time for liftoff! Start scanning your notes, to-do lists, and out-of-this-world ideas. See green, snap, and your notes will be visually enhanced! Then, your scans will automatically blast off to their rightful cyber destination at the speed of light, err... your mobile connection.

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GADGET CORNER

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a guide to...

MOLESKINE Smart writing system Like an out-of-a-sci-fi-movie gadget, the Smart notebook will make your writing easier. Especially in a work environment, when you take notes or are inspired by writing down all those genius ideas, the Smartpen is streaming the activity to your computer, doing a transcript. Isn’t it cool?

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INDUSTRY LEADER

BRANDI REYNOLDS Managing Director of AML & Compliance at Bates Group

As cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, many

The training session focused on how a cryptocurrency

people, including bankers and regulators, want to learn

business can successfully structure its compliance

more about it. Because of my work in this industry, I

operations to navigate a period of f requent regulatory

am often approached for information or asked to give

change. Other topics in the session included:

my opinion on current crypto risks and how to stay in compliance with current regulations. During these

Misconceptions of the industry

conversations, I often hear many misconceptions about

Overview of regulatory requirements and best practices

cryptocurrency as well as about the perceived lack of regulation.

Retaining and maintaining banking relationships Practical advice for compliance officers

This year I had the pleasure of participating in the

How to implement risk-based controls

CrossTech World 2022 Conference and leading the Cryptocurrency Compliance Basics training session, one of three parts of the Cryptocurrency Compliance

Lastly, we discussed recent developments from various

Certification course offered at the conference. The

regulators, including the SEC and OFAC.

topic of cryptocurrency compliance was very timely, as the legal and compliance landscape is constantly

One key takeaway was dispelling misconceptions

changing, and there is more scrutiny on crypto now

within

than ever before in the industry and by regulators.

public. Cryptocurrency leaders were armed with the

the

crypto

industry

and

in

the

general

information they needed to build and implement a compliant and risk-based cryptocurrency business.

My background and experience—not only as an industry consultant but also serving in interim compliance officer roles—have allowed me to gain valuable experience

As regulators continue to look for ways to create

and learn best practices f rom many of the top players

additional oversight of this developing industry,

in the cryptocurrency space. These hands-on roles

it is critical to have forums like CrossTech, where the

have allowed me to provide relevant and actionable

industry can come together and learn and discuss

information to an industry seeking regulatory guidance

new regulatory requirements, expectations, and best

and best practices.

practices.

Brandi Reynolds is the Managing Director of AML & Compliance at Bates Group Bates Group's MSB, FinTech, and Cryptocurrency team provides a full suite of Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (BSA/AML/OFAC) compliance consulting services, state money transmitter licensing acquisition and maintenance support, independent reviews, and corporate compliance training.

Brandi can be reached at Breynolds@bategroup.com

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CONFERENCE RECAP

JUDGES

Prizes:

SUBMISSIONS DIGITAL INNOVATION

FINTECH MAKING A DIFFERENCE

COMPLIANCE SOLUTION OF THE YEAR

WINNERS

BOOK PRESENTATION

ENVIANDO DINERO CAMBIO, REMESAS, MIGRACIÓN Y LA REVOLUCIÓN FINTECH La Evolución de la Industria de Servicios Financieros Internacionales.

Esta obra compendia los conocimientos y experiencias de Hugo Cuevas-Mohr -Especialista en Transferencias de Dinero- en torno a la provisión de servicios financieros internacionales y las tendencias tecnológicas que permitieron su fortalecimiento y evolución.

En sus páginas se cuenta, con decenas de testimonios de los emprendedores que hicieron posible esta industria, la crónica de visionarios que han hecho posible el envío de dinero de migrantes a sus familias y su contribución a la actual revolución fintech.

Hugo Cuevas-Mohr

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Nació en Guatemala, se crió en Colombia y se educó en los Estados Unidos y Europa.

Luego de muchos años en la industria de remesas de dinero, fundando y dirigiendo empresas en varios países, funda en 2001 Mohr World Consulting y en 2010 la IMTC, las Conferencias de Pagos y Transferencias de Dinero, que en el 2021 convergieron bajo la marca de CrossTech. Ha liderado la creación de varias asociaciones e iniciativas dentro del sector, contribuyendo a su continuo desarrollo. Aparte de esta obra, el autor ha publicado ensayos y libros de poesía.

EXHIBITORS, SPONSORS & PARTNERS

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

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VIEW GALLERY

THIS IS WHAT WE LIVED IN WORLD 2022 CONFERENCE! 33

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CrossTech

OUR TEAM Hugo Cuevas Mohr President & CEO CrossTech

Priscilla D'Oliveira COO CrossTech

Jennifer Holguín Lead Consultant

Claudia Ávila Director of Conferences and Sales

Isabel Cortes UK Consultant

Ma. Fernanda Valera

Digital Events Coordinator

Lourdes Soto Spain Consultant

María A. García Customer Service

Virginia Martínez IT Consultant

We are thankful to all our staff and the supporting team of collaborators who help us develop our conferences in each of the cities and regions we select to host them. Without their help, it would be impossible for us to give all the participants in our in-person and virtual events the unique experience we strive to give everyone attending.

Marcela Molina Sr. Designer

Ana González Digital Product Manager & Content Carolina Busnelli Creative Manager & Content

Check our next destinations and join us!!

Juan Posada Business Analyst

Diana Jofre Executive Assistant

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RIDE THE PAYMENTS REVOLUTION ON TIME!

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