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By Ricardo de la Teja Morales
Consider the last time you heard about a new card, a new deposit account, or a new way to wire money. More often than not, these products weren’t part of the value proposition of a traditional bank. Is this a sign of market maturity or a prelude to consolidation? I’d argue it's more related to the latter.
I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the Mexican Fintech ecosystem and its key players. If I had to point out one characteristic common to all participants —from acquirers and issuers to processors and brands— it would be the belief that the intersection of tech and finance can elevate almost any product or service. However, as we’ve repeatedly seen, this assumption is fundamentally flawed.
It no longer makes sense to offer what everybody else is offering, to build a user base from scratch to sell services that were previously available only at bank branches. The current times demand products that are not only digitally distributed, but that also add value in unique ways. Opening a checking account from your smartphone has become mainstream. Owning a coffee shop business that rounds up your cents and deposits them in a savings account automatically? Now, that’s innovative!
As the Mexican Fintech market consolidates, we should expect to see two kinds of winners. On one hand, we’ll have the traditional-but-now-digital-with-bright-colors category (e.g., the credit card you can apply for from your smartphone). On the other, and more interesting to me, is the value-proposition-enhancement-for-a-non-fintech-product category (e.g., the checking account you can open from your favorite grocery store app). Of course, there's always the potential for a new service that disrupts how we handle monetary transactions (e.g., crypto), but that may not be the norm these days.
“My specialization lies in crafting innovative partnership models between financial and non-financial institutions. I effectively bridge the gap between diverse sectors, driving synergies and collaborative success for all parties involved”.