Banco Azteca

Last updated
Banco Azteca S.A. Insitución de Banca Multiple
Company type Private
ELEKTRA, MX
Industry Financial services
Founded26 October 2002;22 years ago (2002-10-26)
FounderRicardo Salinas Pliego
Headquarters Mexico City, Mexico
Key people
Alejandro Valenzuela del Rio (Chairman of the Board), Tonatiu Rodríguez Gómez
Products Banking, Financial
Parent Grupo Elektra (subsidiary of Grupo Salinas)
Divisions Banco Azteca Insurance
Website www.bancoazteca.com

Banco Azteca is a financial institution headquartered in Mexico and is part of Grupo Elektra, which is part of Grupo Salinas, a Mexican conglomerate with interests in banking, media, retail and telecommunications. Founded in October 2002 by businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego [1] , Banco Azteca's focus has been to promote financial inclusion by serving the segments of the population most neglected by traditional banking, providing financial services to middle and lower income groups [2] [3] .

Contents

Grupo Elektra has more than four thousand points of contact in Mexico, the United States and Central America.

History

Early years and the 2000s

In 2002, Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego decided to create a banking institution focused on the country's underbanked segment [4] . A year earlier, he had applied to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit for an operating license, which was finally granted in March 2002. Banco Azteca officially began operations on 30 October of that year [5] .

The institution was created using the geographical presence of the group, thanks to the Elektra stores, a retail chain of Grupo Elektra. By 2003, Banco Azteca had more than 800 branches in these stores, eight independent contact points and 96 modules in various third-party channels. In the same year, the bank signed an agreement with the National Workers' Housing Fund Institute (INFONAVIT) to provide mortgage services [6] .

In 2004, Banco Azteca entered the insurance sector with the creation of Seguros Azteca. In the same year, it began offering bank loans to small farmers and launched the Empresario Azteca initiative to finance small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2005, it became the first Mexican bank to operate internationally, opening branches in Panama and launching the Azteca Card [1] .

After sponsoring the Mexican national football team in 2007, it ventured into the markets of Guatemala, Honduras and Argentina, and opened branches in Brazil and Peru the following year. In 2009, it began operations in El Salvador [1] .

The 2010s

The institution began the decade by launching the prepaid card Monedero Azteca aimed at popular markets. In 2014 it developed its mobile application to enter the digital market and a year later it implemented the "Learn and Grow" educational program in Guatemala [7] .

In 2015 banking executive Alejandro Valenzuela del Río took over as the institution's director. The bank celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2017 at an event at Campo Marte in Mexico City [7] [8] . In 2018 the institution ranked thirteenth on the BrandZTop 30 list of Mexico's most valuable brands compiled by the global data company Kantar Millward Brown with a value of 1.167 billion dollars [9] . In 2019 the bank participated in financial inclusion forums such as the Women's Economic Forum and the Women's Forum Americas in Mexico City [10] . The same year it inaugurated the "Space Academy of Savernauts" a financial culture exhibition aimed at children and young people. It was exhibited for two years at the Interactive Museum of Economics [11] .

The 2020s and the present

In 2020, the institution launched a new financial product called Mobile Azteca Business Banking [7] and reached the milestone of 10 million registered users of its mobile application. According to a report presented by Grupo Salinas, around 70% of the bank's transactions were carried out through mobile digital channels that year [12] .

The launch of ApiLAB, a new digital platform aimed at offering Banco Azteca's products and services through third parties, was announced by Juan Carlos Arroyo, general director of Grupo Elektra Digital, at the "APIs in the Transformation of Mexico" forum held in November 2020. Arroyo also stated that the platform will be launched in 2021 [13] . The bank allocated 11 billion pesos to optimize its digitalization system [14] .

In 2023, Banco Azteca reinforced its commitment to sport by sponsoring the Mexican Olympic team. The bank supported Mexican athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and on their way to Los Angeles 2028. [15]

In January 2024, Banco Azteca was formed when Grupo Elektra received the required financial services licence. The bank began operating on January 7, 2024.

Business model

Banco Azteca's business focus has been to serve the most underserved segments of the population, providing financial services to middle and lower income groups [2] . According to Alejandro Valenzuela, CEO of Banco Azteca, the bank was "born as a popular institution" and "uses financial inclusion not as a rhetorical issue, but as a business model". The executive also stated that the bank's vocation is to create opportunities for its clients to join the financial system, "reaching the lagging areas of the country" [16] .

The study, "From Pawn Shops to Banks: The Impact of Formal Credit on Informal Households" by the University of California, in Los Angeles, mentions Banco Azteca as the first bank in Mexico to target informal sector households and states that these households have experienced several changes in their savings, credit and consumption patterns [17] . The study "The Economic Impact of Banking the Unbanked: Evidence from Mexico', published by the World Bank, mentions that the institution has contributed to improving access to credit and formal financial services with for low-income populations by focusing on previously underserved areas [18] .

Awards and recognition

Rankings

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Azteca</span> Mexican multimedia conglomerate

Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known as TV Azteca, is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa. It primarily competes with Televisa as well as some local operators. It owns two national television networks, Azteca Uno and Azteca 7, and operates two other nationally distributed services, adn40 and A Más+. All three of these networks have transmitters in most major and minor cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Salinas Pliego</span> Mexican billionaire businessman

Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego is a Mexican businessman, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a corporate conglomerate with interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and retail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Bank of Brazil</span> Monetary Authority of Brazil

The Central Bank of Brazil is Brazil's central bank, the bank is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency. It was established on Thursday, 31 December 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco Santander</span> Spanish multinational bank

Banco Santander S.A. trading as Santander Group, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in most global financial centres as the 19th-largest banking institution in the world. Although known for its European banking operations, it has extended operations across North and South America, and more recently in continental Asia. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grupo Salinas</span> Mexican corporate conglomerate

Grupo Salinas is a corporate conglomerate formed in 2001 by several Mexican companies. The group consists of TV Azteca, Grupo Elektra, Mazatlán F.C., Telecosmo, and Italika. Each of these companies operates independently with its own management and board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grupo Elektra</span> Mexican financial and retailing corporation

Grupo Elektra is a Mexican financial and retail corporation founded in 1950 by Hugo Salinas Price. The company currently operates over seven thousand points of contact across Mexico, United States, and Central America, through two business divisions: commercial and financial. Its parent company, Grupo Salinas, is a corporate group with interests across various economic sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBVA México</span> Mexican bank

BBVA México is the largest Mexican financial institution (2024), having about 30.4% of the market. Founded in 1932 as Banco de Comercio (Bancomer), and rebranded from 2000 to 2019 as BBVA Bancomer, its main stockholder is the Spanish bank BBVA. Its headquarters are located at the Torre BBVA México on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Bank of Paraguay</span> State-owned bank in Paraguay

The Central Bank of Paraguay is Paraguay's highest monetary authority, and the country's governing body, in finances and economics. Its headquarters are in Asunción's Carmelitas neighbourhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CaixaBank</span> Spanish financial services company

CaixaBank, S.A., formerly Criteria CaixaCorp, is a Spanish multinational financial services company. CaixaBank is based in Valencia, with operative offices in Barcelona and Madrid. It is Spain's third-largest lender by market value, after Banco Santander and BBVA. CaixaBank has 5,397 branches to serve its 15.8 million customers, and has the most extensive branch network in the Spanish market. It is listed in the Bolsa de Madrid and is part of the IBEX 35.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco de Venezuela</span> Public bank in Venezuela

Banco de Venezuela is an international universal bank based in Caracas. It was the market leader in Venezuela until 2007, when it fell to third place, with an 11.3% market share for deposits; its major competitors are Banesco, Banco Mercantil and BBVA Banco Provincial. As of June 2008, it had 285 branches in Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Salinas Price</span> Mexican business magnate and investor (born 1932)

Hugo Salinas Price is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Mexico's Elektra retail chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banesco</span>

Banesco Banco Universal C.A. is a Venezuelan financial institution whose principal branch is located in Caracas. The bank is part of the Asociación Bancaria de Venezuela.

Comercializadora de Motocicletas de Calidad, S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Italika, is a Mexican motorcycle brand established on November 1, 2004, by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. Italika operates two assembly plants —one in Tlalpan, Mexico City, and another in Toluca, State of Mexico—and distributes products across Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. With over eight million customers, Italika is the top-selling motorcycle brand in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco del Estado de Chile</span>

Banco del Estado de Chile, commercially operating under the brand BancoEstado, is the only Public Bank in Chile and was created by government decree in 1953. It provides financial services to consumers and companies, with a focus on national coverage in terms of geography and social sectors and a particular emphasis on the unbanked and small and medium enterprises, although it serves all types of businesses. It is the country's largest mortgage lender and largest issuer of debit cards. In addition, BancoEstado performs part of the Chilean government's financial activities through the accounts managed by the General Treasury of the Republic of Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria</span> Spanish financial services company

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and is present mainly in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, South America, Turkey, Italy and Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imevisión</span> Former Mexican state broadcaster

The Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión, known commercially as Imevisión after 1985, was a state broadcaster and federal government agency of Mexico. At its height, Imevisión programmed two national networks and additional local stations in Mexico City, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Guadalajara, Mexicali, Tijuana and Monterrey.

bKash Mobile money transfer service

bKash is a mobile financial service (MFS) in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank PLC. This mobile financial service company started as a joint venture between BRAC Bank Limited, and Money in Motion LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Brillembourg</span> Venezuelan tycoon

Jorge David Brillembourg was a Venezuelan economist and businessman, president of Grupo Confinanzas, congressman deputy and main investor of Centro Financiero Confinanzas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azteca Estudios</span> Mexican film-television production company

Azteca Estudios is a Mexican production company owned by TV Azteca, founded in 1996 by producers Elisa Salinas and Juan David Burns in which it focuses on the direction and production of fiction, specifically telenovelas and television series.

Salinas y Rocha was a chain of Mexican department stores primarily selling appliances.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Historia del Banco Azteca". Banco Azteca. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Alejandro Valenzuela: 'Banco Azteca se dedica a atender a un segmento olvidado por el resto de la banca'". El Heraldo de México. February 22, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  3. Noguez, Roberto (December 1, 2022). "De los pagos chiquitos a la consolidación de Banco Azteca". Forbes México.
  4. "Banco Azteca celebra sus primeros 15 años de operaciones". Forbes México. October 30, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  5. "Reporte Anual del Banco Azteca" (PDF). Boletín Grupo Elektra. 1–9. June 30, 2010.
  6. "Banco Azteca cumple 20 años: ¿quién es su dueño y cuál es su historia?". Radio Fórmula. October 26, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 "Quiénes Somos". Banco Azteca. Retrieved November 8, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "Peña Nieto encabeza el XV Aniversario de Banco Azteca". Publimetro. October 26, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  9. López, Zyanya (August 7, 2018). "La estrategia que aumentó el valor de marca de Banco Azteca". Expansión.
  10. Gutiérrez, Fernando (May 31, 2019). "Inclusión financiera hacia las mujeres vive un punto de inflexión con la tecnología". El Economista.
  11. "Academia Espacial de Ahorronautas". Museo Interactivo de Economía. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  12. "Banco Azteca alcanza 10 millones de clientes digitales". Grupo Salinas. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  13. Ocaranza, Carolina (December 2, 2020). "APILab de Banco Azteca: un nuevo modelo de negocio digital". Expansión.
  14. "Banco Azteca destina 11 mil mdp en la digitalización". La Razón. March 17, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  15. Victoria, Por Soledad (January 24, 2024). "Banco Azteca patrocinará atletas olímpicos rumbo a París 2024 y Los Ángeles 2028". infobae. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  16. "Inclusión financiera, modelo de negocio en Banco Azteca". La Razón. March 11, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  17. Ruiz, Claudia (December 10, 2010). "From Pawn Shops to Banks: The Impact of Formal Credit on Informal Households". UCLA Papers.
  18. Bruhn, Miriam (June 1, 2009). "The Economic Impact of Banking the Unbanked: Evidence from Mexico" (PDF). Wold Bank Group: 1–30.