Citibanamex, Belvo to advance financial inclusion in Mexico

As part of their partnership, Citibanamex, with Belvo’s support, intends to provide credit and credit card options to individuals without a credit history, considering factors such as the number of credits requested, outstanding debts, and the applicant’s economic activity, as well as to those for whom income verification presented difficulties through other methods. Also, the two companies aim to enhance the operational efficiency of processes that depend on users offering physical documents at bank branches.

As an Open Finance data and payments platform operating in Latin America, Belvo validates users’ employment histories, as described by their employers, to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). The company’s platform focuses on enabling fintechs and financial institutions to access and process financial information and to initiate payments from their users’ accounts. Through this, Belvo intends to promote more efficient, secure, and inclusive products that fit the needs of consumers.

Citibanamex and Belvo’s Open Finance capabilities are set to foster increased financial inclusion for Mexicans, whilst mitigating the barriers in the credit application and acquisition process. According to officials from Citibanamex, the company seeks financial inclusion solutions to facilitate access to banking products for those who cannot benefit from current services. The newly included functionality is set to simplify customers’ income verification process, which can improve credit opening procedures.

Furthermore, representatives from Belvo underlined that the current move aligns with their company’s commitment to supporting financial services providers in creating efficient and inclusive experiences for their users. The two companies plan to assist in the advancement of credit access across Mexico, which has been proven to positively impact the quality of life of the population, enabling individuals to achieve goods and services that they could not attain due to income confines.

On the other hand, research also shows that only 33% of the Mexican population has formal credit and those who never had access to it stated that the main reasons were not meeting the requirements. Additionally, individuals who applied and were rejected mentioned a lack of credit history, difficulties with the credit bureau, deficient income, or lack of physical documents confirming their income.