9 out of 10 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gain access to credit thanks to technological solutions
Leaders in Mexico’s fintech sector say that the adoption of technological tools in their financing models has enabled nearly 90% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). That previously lacked access to credit to now have access to it, without incurring additional debt.
In Mexico, access to credit has for years been one of the most persistent challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises. Despite representing the backbone of the national economy—SMEs generate the majority of jobs in the country—most operate outside the formal financial system, not because they are unviable. But because traditional credit assessment models were designed with a different type of business in mind. One with audited financial statements, its own accounting department, and years of documented banking history. That model fits large corporations, but it leaves out the neighborhood stationery shop. The auto repair shop, or the small restaurant that issues invoices, makes payments, and collects payments every day. Even if it has never set foot in a bank branch to apply for a loan.
Mexican fintech niche sector
Faced with this mismatch, the Mexican fintech sector has found a niche that has been growing particularly strongly in recent years. Replacing paper accounting records with the digital trail that any active business already leaves behind. Payment terminals, transfers to suppliers, electronic filing with the SAT. Each of these everyday transactions has become the raw material for new risk analysis models. Ones that are faster and less dependent on the administrative infrastructure required by traditional banking. It is in this context that institutions like Finsus have begun to gain ground.
Faced with this scenario, Finsus turned to technological tools such as artificial intelligence and data analysis algorithms to evaluate a company using a different type of information—one that is simpler and more revealing.
“The payments a business receives at its point-of-sale terminal, its transfers to suppliers, and, above all. Its electronic invoices filed with the tax authority make it possible to reconstruct a business’s actual sales in a matter of minutes,” explained Finsus’s CEO.
Based on this new model, the institution grants business loans ranging from 500,000 to 7.5 million pesos in less than 48 hours, through a 100% digital process without the business owner having to visit a branch. Currently, Finsus is the Popular Financial Society (Sofipo) with the largest portfolio in the country. Serving more than 750,000 clients, 90% of whom are businesses and SMEs.
“It’s not about asking for less evidence, but rather a different kind. The goal is not to issue more debt, but to accurately assess how much credit each business can sustain without putting itself at risk,” explained Carlos Marmolejo.
