Mexico has established itself as a regional fintech innovation hub, as evidenced by the presence of more than 1,100 financial technology companies in the country—800 Mexican and around 300 foreign. Although the number of companies grew only slightly over the past year, revenues increased by more than 40%, reflecting the ecosystem’s consolidation, explained Claudia Núñez Sañudo, Director of the FinTech Mexico Association.
During the panel “Migrating from Traditional Banking to Next-Generation Payment Ecosystems”, Núñez Sañudo noted that although there are still countries with much to learn, consumption patterns are changing. She pointed to the fact that in 2024, Mexico’s Interbank Electronic Payment System (SPEI) registered more than 5.4 billion transactions—equivalent to 6.5 times the nation’s GDP.
Meanwhile, Pablo Pereyra Portugal, Chief Revenue Officer at 2innovate, stressed that “Mexico is playing in the global major leagues.” For the Uruguayan-born technology company, he explained, it is more accurate to speak of transactionality and omnichannel rather than simply payment methods, since in the future different rails—SPEI, digital wallets, and card networks—will converge, with efficiency achieved through this convergence.
So far, Pereyra Portugal shared, 2innovate serves more than 30 clients across 12 countries in the region, providing payment services across both local and cross-border rails. In Mexico, clients include Konfío, the B2B unicorn that grants credit to SMEs, and in Ecuador, Banco Pichincha.
Different Models of Financial Digitalization
José Antonio Quesada Palacios, former Vice President of Regulatory Policy at the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), outlined the different models of financial digitalization. He described a “forced” model like India’s, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 decreed the elimination of cash; more “persuasive” models such as China with its superapps and Brazil with Pix; and other countries like Mexico, where reluctance to abandon cash persists “because many people and activities still prefer it.”
Now President of the National Association of Independent Company Directors (CNCIE), Quesada also warned that since the 2018 Fintech Law, open banking remains a major pending issue. He acknowledged, however, that the CNBV was designed to “preserve the stability of the financial system” rather than foster innovation or creativity.
He also pointed to regulatory asymmetries between banks and fintechs—for example, fintechs are required to maintain two cloud providers. This requirement, he explained, originated from concerns during Donald Trump’s first administration about a potential disconnection from U.S. providers.
Quesada stressed that each bank must evaluate its own cloud adoption strategy, celebrating that both the migration to cloud services and regulatory changes have enabled institutions to carry out digital onboarding and remote identity verification during the pandemic.
“We urgently need cryptocurrency regulation,” he added, predicting a significant regional ripple effect now that the United States has just passed the GENIUS Act to regulate payment stablecoins.
AI: A Transformative Force
Finally, Arne Schrenk, Managing Director of Financial Services at Accenture, stated that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a profound impact on four main areas:
- Customer service
- Pricing
- Prospecting
- Risk management
By Raúl Parra — September 5, 2025
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To learn more about 2innovate and Frame Banking™, visit www.2innovateit.com.