What IT asset management implies in a fintech with remote teams, which standards require an inventory of those assets, and how to maintain control when the team is distributed across several countries.
LATAM fintechs are growing fast and, in many cases, with teams distributed across multiple countries. This is the same scenario we see in any technology company that scales remotely, with one difference: the devices used by their collaborators access financial information and personal customer data.
That changes the weight of hardware. A notebook that no one knows where it is ceases to be just a replacement cost and becomes a risk to the information it contains.
This article explains what ITAM is in a fintech, which regulations require an asset inventory, where control is lost when the team is distributed, and how to resolve it.
What is ITAM and why does it carry more weight in a fintech?
ITAM (IT Asset Management) is the practice of recording and controlling the complete life cycle of every piece of technology equipment in a company: purchase, setup, allocation, support, recovery, and disposal. In a fintech, it carries more weight than in other companies because those devices access customers' financial and personal data. Therefore, controlling them is also a matter of information security.
In a company from another sector, a missing notebook is mainly a financial loss. In a fintech, it is also a security blind spot: a device that had access to production systems, customer databases, or payment tools, and about which no one can say with certainty where it is or what it contains.
ITAM and MDM in a fintech: two different layers
ITAM and MDM are often confused, but they solve different problems.
MDM (Mobile Device Management) is the software that controls the device remotely: it applies security policies, installs applications, locks the device, or wipes its data from a distance.
ITAM is the record that answers other questions: how many devices the company has, who has each one, which country it is in, when it was delivered, and what happened to it when that person left.
A fintech needs both layers. MDM can lock a notebook, but it does not tell you if that notebook returned. An inventory can tell you that a device is assigned to someone, but it does not protect the data if that device is lost. We expand on this difference in detail here.
What regulations require a fintech to have an IT asset inventory?
It depends on the country, the type of license, and the certifications the company is pursuing. There are three reference frameworks where this topic explicitly appears: local financial regulation, the ISO/IEC 27001 standard, and SOC 2 reports. All three agree on the same thing: knowing what equipment exists, who has it, and what happens to it when someone leaves the company.
ISO/IEC 27001. For fintechs seeking this certification, the 2022 version of the standard includes two directly related controls in its Annex A. Control 5.9 requires developing and maintaining an inventory of information and other associated assets, along with their owners. Control 5.11 establishes that personnel must return the organization's assets upon termination of their employment or contractual relationship. (ISO/IEC 27001:2022)
SOC 2. This is an audit framework defined by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), relevant for fintechs working with clients in the United States. Among the points of focus guiding the audit is that the company must keep its equipment protected until it is no longer possible to read or recover the data it contains. (2017 Trust Services Criteria, AICPA)
The obligation depends on the fintech's activity and the country where it operates. In Argentina, for example, payment service providers registered with the BCRA must comply with the minimum technology and information security requirements by August 2026 (Communication "A" 8401), which include maintaining an updated inventory of their information assets (Communication "A" 7724). Fintechs that are not covered by this type of regulation may still need it for the certifications they seek or because of what their clients request. Furthermore, when handling financial and personal data, a reliable inventory reduces the risk associated with that information, regardless of any external requirements.
Why does hardware inventory get messy in a growing fintech?
A fintech's inventory gets messy because hardware enters the company through many different doors and no one centralizes the registry. When the team grows fast and across several countries, every purchase is resolved as an emergency: the equipment is obtained however possible and the data is loaded later, if loaded at all. It is not a problem of bad will, but of process design.
The most common causes are these:
Purchases in different countries and at different times. Each country has its own supplier, currency, and warranty, and they rarely end up in the same registry.
Employee reimbursements. The employee buys their notebook and the company reimburses them. Accounting-wise, the expense exists; in the inventory, many times it does not.
Corporate card purchases. They show up on the card statement, but without a serial number or an assigned owner.
Informal reassignments. Someone leaves and their equipment is handed over to another person on the same team without anyone updating the spreadsheet.
Personal devices with access to systems. These are the hardest to track, because the company did not buy them or register them.
The result is an inventory with multiple versions of the truth: finance's, IT's, and People's. None of them fully match what physically exists.
How to offboard equipment in a fintech without losing traceability?
The offboarding of equipment in a fintech is done correctly when hardware recovery is a process with steps, responsible parties, and tracking, rather than an email asking the person to return the laptop. The goal is not just for the equipment to return, but to be able to demonstrate what happened to it and the information it contained.
A hardware offboarding with traceability follows this sequence:
Notification and lockout. The termination triggers the recovery request and, in parallel, the remote lockout of the equipment via MDM.
Coordinated pickup. The equipment is picked up at the person's home, without relying on them to pack and ship it on their own.
Transportation with tracking. Each stage of the transport is documented with a date.
Data erasure. Information is securely deleted, and a record is kept.
Destination decision. The equipment is reassigned, stored, or sold through a BuyBack program.
Status update. The inventory reflects the new status without manual intervention.
The difference between "the equipment returned" and "we can demonstrate what happened to the equipment" is what matters when someone asks for evidence. To see the recovery process in detail by country: how to recover hardware in Latin America.
How does First Plug solve ITAM for a fintech with a distributed team?
First Plug solves ITAM for fintech companies by centralizing the purchase, setup, delivery, support, and retrieval of every device with a single provider, with its own operations in LATAM. Since the same team handles every stage, the chain of custody does not pass through unknown intermediaries, and every movement is recorded in a single platform.
Thus, traceability doesn't depend on someone manually updating a spreadsheet; instead, the record is updated with every actual movement of the device.
In practice, this translates into:
Centralized purchasing and registration from the source. Every device is entered into the inventory at the moment of purchase, along with its identification details and assigned user.
Devices configured to fintech standards. They arrive at the employee's home ready to use, enrolled in the MDM defined by the company, in whichever country they are located.
Documented offboarding. Retrieval is requested directly from the platform, the device is picked up from the home address, and the status change is recorded.
Post-sales support within the same loop. Repairs and replacements are logged, so an out-of-service device doesn't become a ghost in the inventory.
Defined destination for every recovered device. Reassignment, storage, or BuyBack, with the status updated in the inventory.
Owning the operations is what makes that history reliable. When a different third party steps in for each country, traceability breaks exactly at the points people will ask about later. To get a quote for devices and services for a distributed team: Quotes from First Plug.
Frequently Asked Questions about ITAM for Fintechs
What is ITAM in a fintech?
ITAM (IT Asset Management) is the management of the lifecycle of a company's technological equipment: purchase, configuration, assignment, support, recovery, and decommissioning. In a fintech, it holds special significance because these devices access financial and personal data of clients. An uncontrolled device is not just a cost: it is also a risk to the information it contains.
Does ITAM replace MDM in a fintech?
No. They are complementary layers. MDM controls the device remotely: applying security policies, locking the device, or erasing its data. ITAM records the lifecycle of the device: who has it, what country it is in, and what happened to it when that person left the company. A fintech needs both to have complete control of its hardware.
What regulations require a fintech to have an IT asset inventory?
It depends on the country and the activity. The ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standard includes inventory and asset return controls for companies seeking certification. SOC 2 criteria cover the protection of devices until their data can no longer be recovered. In Argentina, payment service providers registered with the BCRA must maintain an updated inventory of their information assets.
What happens to the data on a laptop when an employee leaves the fintech?
In a well-managed offboarding, the device is remotely locked via MDM as soon as the departure is confirmed, retrieved from the person's home, and its information is securely erased before reassignment, storage, or sale. Each step is documented, so you can prove what happened to the device and the data it contained.
Does First Plug keep a record of the delivery and recovery of each device?
Yes. First Plug centralizes the purchase, delivery, support, and recovery of each device into a single platform, where every movement is recorded. Thus, traceability does not depend on someone manually updating a spreadsheet, and the fintech can check the status of each device and what happened to it throughout its lifecycle.
Is First Plug suitable for fintechs with devices in multiple LATAM countries?
Yes. First Plug has its own operations in LATAM and manages the purchase, delivery, and recovery of devices in the region. For a fintech with employees in several countries, this means a single process and a single record for all its hardware, without having to coordinate a different provider in each country.
A reliable inventory is built before it is requested
In a fintech with a distributed team, the control of IT assets is not solved the day someone requests it. It is solved with every purchase entered into the registry, every documented delivery, and every offboarding that ends with the device recovered and its status updated. When that process exists, accounting for the devices stops being a reconstruction and becomes a simple query.
If you had to present a complete list of the fintech's devices tomorrow, with responsible person, country, and status, how long would it take to assemble and how much could it be trusted?
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