Financiera para el Bienestar advanced financial inclusion in Mexico and the United States in four years
Three pillars guide the institution's work: credit, popular savings, and remittances.
María del Rocío Mejía Flores, head of the Financial Well-being Agency (Finabien), delivered her fourth accountability report on September 9 at the Los Pinos Cultural Complex. Before hundreds of attendees, she outlined the achievements and progress of this institution, founded in 2020 with President López Obrador's mandate to leverage the extensive infrastructure of Telecommunications of Mexico–Telecomm Telégrafos —for the benefit of the public.
Publicidad
Rocío Mejía opened her presentation with a thoughtful reflection: “There was always talk of financial inclusion, but financial exclusion never truly ended. Could it be that it was never the goal during the long neoliberal period?”
According to the National Survey of Financial Inclusion (ENIF), 32.2% of Mexicans aged 18 to 70 cannot access formal financial products such as savings accounts, credit, insurance, or pensions. This underscores the importance of promoting financial inclusion, especially in remote municipalities where traditional banking services are scarce.
Thus, Finabien’s triad—credit, popular savings, and remittances—has become a virtuous cycle, facilitating access to banking services, safe savings through CETES, and remittances with terms previously unavailable to Mexican nationals living in the United States.
Publicidad
What have been the achievements in credit?
The institution made credit accessible to populations historically lacking favorable conditions: directly, without intermediaries, collateral, co-signers, or credit history, and with zero or meager interest rates.
Publicidad
The four programs launched include Tandas para el Bienestar, Créditos a la Palabra, a particular loan for women called Crédito Libertad Mujer, and the Esperanza 1 and 2 loans, which were provided in Acapulco following Hurricane Otis.
From 2019 to 2024, 2,869,932 loans, amounting to 46,766 million pesos, were granted, aimed at financing productive activities and, most importantly, creating jobs.
Mejía highlighted that there has been no budget to grant new loans for the last two years, and all funds distributed came from reinvestment. “The beneficiaries have responded… and it was enough to support the businesses in Acapulco that sought resources after Hurricane Otis,” she said.
She emphasized that job creation and poverty reduction are the most visible outcomes of this strategy to serve the neediest communities. According to INEGI, “under the administration of the Fourth Transformation, more than 5.1 million people emerged from poverty between 2018 and 2022.”
Additionally, she noted that microloans are always accompanied by training, technical assistance, and marketing support through partnerships with universities and public and private institutions, ensuring that businesses are successful and sustainable.
Was popular savings successfully promoted?
As for popular savings, Finabien provided a formal option for young people and low-income individuals, historically excluded from this opportunity, to save and earn reasonable returns.
Through an agreement with Nacional Financiera and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, CETES accounts were opened in their 1,700 branches, starting at just 100 pesos, making it accessible for people to invest in safe government bonds. The report shows over 7,000 accounts have been opened to access this formal savings instrument.
Gabriel Yoiro González, Undersecretary of Finance and Public Credit, stated that the number of investors has grown from 300,000 at the start of President López Obrador's administration to nearly 2.3 million, an unprecedented effort that has paid out close to 10 billion pesos in returns.
"At the Ministry of Finance, we are convinced that financial inclusion is a powerful tool to combat poverty and inequality,” he concluded.
Sending remittances quickly and affordably
One of President López Obrador's directives to Finabien’s head was to implement a mechanism that would make sending remittances from the United States to Mexico easier and more affordable.
The Finabien USA Card was introduced on May 1, 2023, during a morning press conference. Since then, 77,000 cards have been issued in the United States, reducing the cost of sending up to $2,500 to just $3.99, Mejía reported.
So far, more than $12 million has been sent. “While this may seem like a small amount, it is an indicator that the system works and operates effectively, so it’s only a matter of time before thousands more Mexicans use this option,” she noted.
Additionally, she emphasized that this is the first time the Mexican government has provided its citizens abroad with a bank account and the ability to receive payroll and transfers in the United States.
Follow Heraldo USA on Google News, CLICK HERE.
Publicidad
Últimas Noticias
Publicidad
Más Leídas | Heraldo USA
Publicidad
Más noticias de united states
Más noticias de actualidad
Últimas Noticias
Los 6 signos zodiacales que saldan sus deudas y se enriquecen antes de que termine octubre
Por Agencias
Luis Miguel will eclipse an entire industry with the world's first black tequila
Por Jonathan Almazán
Calendario electoral: ¿Cuáles son las fechas clave en las elecciones de EEUU 2024?
Por Agencias
Elecciones EEUU 2024: La estrategia de Michelle Obama para que Kamala Harris gane la votación
Por Agencias
¿Quién es Arturo Moreno, el millonario con sangre mexicana que es uno de los más ricos en EEUU?
Por Jonathan Almazán
Gastrolab MX
Día de Muertos: 7 diferentes tipos de ofrenda o altares según la región
Por Gastrolab México
Pan de elote casero, receta sencilla y sin complicaciones
Por Gastrolab México
La verdura que necesitas para reducir tus niveles de azúcar
Por Gastrolab México
Beneficios y uso de la cebolla en el árbol de aguacate
Por Gastrolab México
3 licuados con avena que puedes preparar para aprovechar sus beneficios y bajar de peso
Por Gastrolab México
Heraldo MX
Pensión Mujeres Bienestar: en esta fecha se podrán registrar todas sin importar la edad
Por El Heraldo de México
Los cetes no van más: cómo ahorrar dinero en México usando otros métodos
Por El Heraldo de México
Viviendas nuevas de 700, 000 pesos sin Infonavit: ¿para quién aplica el programa que anunció Claudia Sheinbaum?
Por El Heraldo de México
“Albertano” es cuestionado por su exsuegra quien pide información sobre la muerte de su hija
Por El Heraldo de México
Medicinas, compra, desabasto y renuncias
Por El Heraldo de México