The number of digital clients of Banco Azteca has grown significantly in the last two and a half years, and more recently due to the health contingency derived from the Covid-19 pandemic.
While 2018 closed it with 3.3 million digital clients; In 2019 the figure rose to 7.7 million, and in 2020 it reached 12 million of the 22 million users that the bank currently has in total.
The aspiration for 2021, according to Juan Carlos Arroyo, CEO of Grupo Elektra Digital, is for Banco Azteca to have 15 million digital customers, which would represent 60% of the total.
In an interview, he comments that recently there has been a very significant demand for digital services. “The contingency accelerated the change in consumer habits for two or three years, and what we see is a growth that exceeds 160% in financial or monetary transactions, in which our customers move money,” he says.
Main transactions
According to Juan Carlos Arroyo, the Banco Azteca application (App) has more than 80 functionalities, but the ones that users occupy the most are: checking balances and movements; while in relation to the movement of money: transfers between accounts, shipments to other banks, payment of credits and other services; collection of remittances, and purchase of airtime.
He also comments that for approximately a year and a half, the bank’s App has already allowed the placement of products and today, for example, six out of 10 payroll loans and five out of 10 personal loans are managed and delivered to through the App.
They expect a rebound in the next three years
The Grupo Elektra executive points out that today one out of every three Banco Azteca transactions is carried out from the application, but the expectation for the next two or three years is that they represent 70 percent.
“Today five out of 10 personal loans or six out of 10 payroll are made from the App. In the next three years we would be reaching levels of 80%,” he says.
Growth with Open Banking
Juan Carlos Arroyo highlights, however, that in this period, significant growth will also come through the alliance with third parties with the so-called open banking, which was precisely launched by Banco Azteca at the beginning of last December.
“In the next three years, I assume that perhaps 20% of Banco Azteca’s business will be through the alliances that we are creating with third parties,” he says.
Just one of the plans for this year, explains the manager, is to share digital capabilities through open banking.
“It will allow us to connect with the fintech ecosystem, with all those players, competitors and allies who require digital financial services and who require a regulated financial institution such as the bank to provide these services. This will allow us to access segments in which we are not today, reaching the customer with digital solutions that we do not necessarily build ”, he details.
Another part that comes this year is to give a strong boost to electronic commerce through Elektra. “It will be a very important take-off in the credit offer linked to our retail commercial offer”.
Facial recognition
Banco Azteca was one of the first to register the fingerprint of its users. In 2020, derived from the contingency, it incorporated facial recognition to enroll its clients to digital channels.
For three or four years we have been incorporating face taking as a method of identifying our clients in the branch ”, he says. The executive trusts that in 2021 Banco Azteca will become the largest digital bank operating in the country.
Digital customer growth
2018:
3.3 million.
2019:
7.7 million.
2020:
12 millions.
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