New Mexican government knows what is needed to grow today: Fintech collaboration and Banks

Developing countries know that technology is necessary if they want to grow their economies, which is why the next Mexican government is announcing that Fintech companies are needed in the territory and banks should support them. The short-medium term objective according to the new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is to impact the distribution of wealth, this being the priority of his administration.

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Arturo Herrera, one of the two future deputy finance ministers, said in an interview that the lack of financial inclusion was one of the biggest obstacles in the new government's fight against poverty, inequality and slow economic growth.

Herrera said that Fintechs, commercial banks and controlled by the government, all had a role to play to improve access to financial products and services, arguing that the "lack of depth" in the sector was hampering progress.

"We will have to create or help create a basic infrastructure that allows transactions between people and financial institutions in some of the most rural and disconnected areas of the country," he said.

It clarifies that consultations will be held with telecommunications companies and convenience stores, seeking to build a stable infrastructure. In addition, his team was also studying how to develop digital banking services, and could review Mexico's Fintech law in an attempt to improve financial inclusion.

A 2015 assessment of Mexico's banking regulator found that 44 percent of adults had a bank account, but two-thirds of them saved informally.

They consider that the Fintechs will be the way for financial evolution, using technology and digital innovation as a tool, for example: branches, ATMs and personalized attention.

"The next step is to talk to the commercial banking sector to understand what features would help them consider this a profitable segment or one that could be profitable in the future," said Herrera.