“The search to operate under the bank license of different institutions and/or the entry of international banks into the Mexican banking sector will strengthen the offer of products and services, and will also promote competition to cover various segments of the population,” said the HR Ratings agency in a report.
This year, the regulator gave the green light to Nu and Revolut to operate as banks; The license is added to that of Openbank, Santander’s digital bank.
Bineo was sold to Sofipo Klar, which was already searching for a banking license, which will shorten the path to operate and compete with other players such as Hey Banco, the Banregio entity, which is waiting to obtain formal operating permission.
“Revolut will seek to facilitate access to digital financial services such as currency exchange, transfers, payments, savings and loans, contributing to greater financial inclusion, which at the end of 2024 reached only 76.5% of the population,” Moody’s said.
By number of assets, Nu promises to be the largest of the new players. It is the entity that still operates under Sofipo and under a promise of attractive returns it has increased the collection of resources, which has made traditional banks accelerate digitalization plans.
Money laundering shakes the banking structure
After last June the Treasury Department made accusations against Intercam, Vector and CI Banco for money laundering, the government intervened and the businesses of these banks were distributed.
Multiva, Kapital, BanCoppel and Finamex were among the financial institutions that benefited from the sale of some of the assets of the aforementioned institutions, at least those that kept a large part of the businesses.
Multiva took over the trust business that Vector operated. Multiva hired the American firm Sidley Austin, which advises it on compliance and anti-money laundering matters. It also included the law firms White & Case, and Galicia y Abogados, to advise on the acquisition, while Ernst & Young helped them with the tax part.
With data as of September, Multiva grew its assets by 36% compared to last year.
Kapital became the new “medium” player in banking after becoming a Financial Group. With the bank and brokerage house licenses, the firm seeks to expand its product offering.
With this, the bank’s assets increased by 373%.
