At the ninth Convention of the Mexican Association of Sofipos (AMS), Jimena Moreno González, head of the Planning, Liaison and International Affairs Unit of Cofece, stressed that regulation must be generated in proportion to the risk created.
“The flexibility is first applied to the banking sector and then to the Sofipos, which can delay the innovation of non-traditional actors in the financial ecosystem. We are beginning to see that (the Sofipos) are lagging behind in regulation because traditional banking is affected first,” he said.
Cofece announced that the study shows that digital Sofipos have boosted consumer credit and have less bad debts than traditional banks in business loans.
“I think they are doing a good job here: they are understanding well, they are measuring risks and this is another area of opportunity: if they see the progress in digital on-boarding and who has access to the internet and technology, then we begin to see a gap,” he added.
Since March 2019, the regulator allowed Sofipos to carry out digital onboarding, which made it easier for companies to grow their customer base.
He also highlighted the need for infrastructure in the country, such as internet access, since digital Sofipos are doing more for financial inclusion.
Going forward, the regulator is expected to allow Sofipos to offer payroll loans as well as access to banking correspondents.