Mexico pushes mobile payments to help unbanked consumers ditch cash
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
By Stefani Eschenbacher, Anna Irrera
Mexico’s new leftist government is betting on financial technology to help lift people out of poverty.
The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently announced measures aimed at making financial services more affordable in a nation where more than half the population is unbanked.
It is planning a digital payments system run and built by the central bank that will allow Mexicans to make and receive payments through their smartphones free of charge. A pilot roll-out for the platform, known as CoDi, is expected by March.
“In the future, it will no longer be necessary to have a bank in the sense of a traditional, established bank,” said Arturo Herrera, Mexico’s deputy finance minister. “Mobile phones will become banks.”
Photo courtesy of PresidenciaRD.
Source: Reuters (link opens in a new window)
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