Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of Mexico’s largest financial institutions, has introduced a new digital bank named bineo. The bank said its newest venture aims to expand its customer base by adding 2.8 million new clients over the next five years.
Banco Banorte GFNORTEO.MX, part of the Grupo Financiero Banorte, currently serves 12 million clients and ranks as the second-largest bank in Mexico by credit portfolio size. The group’s president Carlos Hank hoghlighted in a Reuters interview the growing demand for entirely digital banking services among their clients.
Hank assured that Banco Banorte will continue its operations through its existing branch network and mobile app, and that bineo is not intended to replace the traditional bank but to complement it by targeting a different customer segment.
Bineo’s introduction positions it in competition with other fully digital banks in the region, such as Brazil’s Nubank, which is owned by Warren Buffet, and Argentina’s Uala. Hank’s vision for bineo is to offer a comprehensive range of banking products, including mortgages, credit cards, and car loans.
Banco Banorte stands as the largest local bank in the Mexican financial landscape, which is dominated by local branches of international banks like Spain’s BBVA and Santander, as well as Citigroup. Despite this, most of the Mexican population remains unbanked, with a third of adults lacking any formal financial product and over a fifth without internet access.
Hank recognizes the challenges but believes that bineo has a competitive edge due to the backing of Grupo Financiero Banorte.
This launch is part of a broader trend in the Mexican financial sector, with Santander Mexico announcing the upcoming launch of its Openbank digital service and Hey Banco, supported by Banregio Grupo Financiero, recently receiving approval to operate as a bank.
Nubank (NUN.MX), the largest Brazilian digital bank, reached the mark of 1 million active users in Mexico, just one month after launching its savings accounts product in the country. The bank will also launch a Mexican debit card for customers to withdraw cash from ATMs.
The total deposits accumulated by Latin America’s star FinTech in this short period amount to a substantial 1 billion pesos ($58 million). Notably, nearly 90% of these funds are held within Nubank’s unique “little boxes” feature, which provides customers with a separate space within their accounts to hold funds and receive a 9% annual return.
