According to reports, Mexico's Finance Ministry is set to authorize the opening of five new banks in the country, including one by the country's largest retailer, Wal-Mart de Mexico.
Other banks to be approved include Banco Facil, Banco Comercial Del Noreste, Prudential Bank and Bancoppel, which will be run by retailer Coppel. The aim of the new bank openings is to serve the country’s different market niches, in a bid to create more competition for the benefit of consumers.
The new banks will orient their services to segments of the population that traditionally haven’t been served by banks, achieving greater penetration of banking services, MarketWatch quotes the ministry as saying.
The growth in interest to invest in banks run by retailers was initiated by Elektra, an electrical store which launched Banco Azteca in 2002. This would often be no bigger than a booth in the back of the outlet, lending money to the low-income clients who did not qualify for credit at traditional banks.