intermediarios

Intermediarios, in Spanish, are individuals or organizations that facilitate exchanges between buyers and sellers, service providers and users, or between other parties in a transaction. They perform roles that reduce search and information costs, lower bargaining uncertainty, and transfer or bear certain risks. They can operate in various sectors and market forms, from traditional commerce to digital platforms.

Common categories include economic intermediaries such as retailers, wholesalers, distributors and brokers; financial intermediaries such as banks, insurance companies, funds; information intermediaries such as rating agencies, search engines and recommendation platforms; and administrative or professional intermediaries such as notaries, agents and consultancies.

Key functions include matchmaking, anchoring prices, negotiating terms, facilitating logistics, financing, risk sharing, quality control, and compliance with rules and standards. They can also provide after-sales service, warranties, or dispute resolution.

Intermediation can improve market efficiency, expand access to products and services, and enable scale. However, it can also introduce costs, dependencies, and potential misaligned incentives or market power. The emergence of digital platforms has transformed intermediation by enabling two-sided markets and data-driven matching, while raising concerns about data use, competition, and transparency.

Regulatory frameworks often address licensing, fiduciary duties, disclosure, and consumer protection for intermediaries such as real estate agents, brokers, and financial advisers. In practice, intermediaries play a central role in supply chains, financial systems, and information ecosystems.