Internet access is necessary for Sofipos to reach more people: Cofece

Jiutepec, Mor., The willingness of Popular Financial Companies (Sofipos) to digitize credit and savings services must be accompanied by infrastructure so that the Internet reaches the communities that these entities traditionally serve, which are the most backward in the country, stated the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece).

Participating in the second day of activities of the 9th Convention of the Mexican Association of Sofipos (AMS), Jimena Moreno González, head of the planning, linkage and international affairs unit of Cofece, pointed out that these institutions, focused on serving the low-income population in Mexico, are the ones that have best known how to apply technology to be able to include more people in the financial system.

However, he said, these advances must be accompanied by the necessary infrastructure so that people who live in the most remote communities in the country and who also have lower incomes, can access more financing and savings products.

“We have already seen that digital financial services are the spearhead of the national and international market, and this cannot be achieved through regulation alone. We also need access to infrastructure and technology. We must start there and with financial education. This is a structural challenge, there is no access to the Internet,” he said.

At the same time, there are a number of limitations that Sofipos face today, such as “limitations such as payroll portability, the competitive disadvantages that exist against banks and the regulatory framework, the latter being very complex and the more technology there is, the more difficult it is.”

“That is why these are the challenges for Sofipos. We also find it important to generate regulation proportional to the institutions, to facilitate the hiring of third-party providers, to implement open finances that we already have in front of us, always taking care of the privacy of consumers, and everything can complement each other very well.”