FinTech/FI Collaborations In Mexico And Beyond

There are any number of government initiatives pairing FinTech with traditional FIs, and now Mexico joins the roster with renewed focus.

Only one-third of adults in that country have a bank account. And the new administration, incoming, is looking to boost financial inclusion.

One incoming future deputy finance minister, Arturo Herrera, told  Reuters that financial inclusion’s shortfall in the country has led to obstacles in the fight against poverty and slow economic growth.  The new administration under president-elect Andres Manual Lopez Obrador is slated to take office on Dec. 1.  Spreading the wealth, is among the priorities of the administration.

To help boost financial inclusion, digital banking is on the list of efforts, but basic infrastructure needs to be in place to foster transactions between people and financial institutions, an incoming deputy finance minister told Reuters.

And in fostering digital transactions elsewhere, in one strategic example this past week, Visa made a strategic investment in Paidy, which offers instantly issued post pay credit services for eCommerce consumers based in Japan.

That FinTech has 1.5 million users in Japan.  Though the terms of the investment were not disclosed, a Series C financing had been announced last month, worth $55 million, that included the Visa pact.  You can find out a bit more about how Paidy is helping consumers in that country transition away from cash by clicking here for our tracker that delves into FI/FinTech collaborative efforts.

Some efforts are  geared toward boosting competition directly – and where FIs fund that effort  via mandates.  Royal Bank of Scotland is awaiting applications for funds the bank has been mandated to give to its competitors in the industry – to the tune of $1 billion. RBS is disbursing the funds as part of an agreement with Treasury and the European Commission, in order to keep RBS from divesting a subsidiary known as Williams & Glyn.