In the continent there are 700 companies of this type, of which 394 are in the Aztec country.
Mexico is the leader of fintech entrepreneurship in Latin America. According to a study by Finnovista, in this region there are 700 companies of this type, of which 394 are in Mexico. Among the areas in which they operate are remittances, payments, personal finance management, insurance, crowdfunding, loans, among others.
“They are here to stay because they have democratized the way in which financing circulates, overcoming those traditional fund management companies”, says Sebastian Medrano, director of marketing and director of Coru.com.
Although the figures indicate that Mexico is a country open to this type of ventures, there are regulations and processes that you must follow in order to operate a fintech. Here we tell you what they are.
It operates outside the law
In Mexico there is already a regulation called Fintech Law, which came into force last year to regulate the financial technology sector that includes crowdfunding and cryptocurrency platforms. This law specifies that to open a fintech you must request an authorization from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), generate a business plan that explains the operations that your company will perform, characteristics of its technological system and the commissions it will charge for services, among others.
In this matter, the most advisable thing is to advise you with an expert in legal matters, since each fintech has different regulations and must meet certain requirements.
Medrano warns that if your company is a wallet, you will have to specify the expenses, technical and security features of the link to the payment systems. “In other cases you must generate a financial feasibility study of the first three years of operation, as well as a projection of the expected income from the collection of commissions and consideration”.
Choose the type of fintech
Analyze what type of fintech you will undertake, as the regulation addresses four items of the country’s financial system: financial advice, collective funding (crowdfunding), electronic payments and virtual assets (cryptocurrencies).
According to Fintech Radar Mexico, the fintech segments that predominate in payments and remittances, and loans, which together represent 40.7% of the country’s total startups. Other segments have had significant growth such as Digital Banking with an annual growth of 200%. Similarly, the loan sector represents 20.6%, the payment and remittance sector 20.1%, while the business finance management sector 13.2%, among others.
Formalities
It investigates well the deadlines to deliver the authorization request and all the necessary documentation to the CNBV; There are about 80 general documents. You must classify your information in company documents, its shareholders and its administrative council.
After submitting the application to the CNBV, the institution has up to 90 calendar days to ask for more information if it is incomplete or requires some clarification. After having the authorization, you have to comply with various obligations such as those related to accounting, regulations on money laundering prevention and information security.
Choose where your startup operates
Like any company, it is necessary to know the geographical location where your fintech is going to be developed. Although they are technological industries that can reach anywhere through the internet, the place influences their development. In fact, according to Finnovista, Mexico City is the entity with the most fintech companies, since it has 61% of the startups that make up this sector, followed by Guadalajara with 9%, and Monterrey with 6%.
It is necessary that you do a market research to evaluate the impact that the company would have on your city, says Medrano, since the fintech is mostly aimed at unbanked sectors of the population. For this reason, to undertake in the great metropolises supposes to fight against the competition, whereas opting for emergent cities can catapult to the success in a very short time.
Financing
As in any other startup you will need financing to make it work. The good news is that the fintech phenomenon has had its greatest intensity in the last five years, a period in which about 70% of Mexican fintechs were created. This also means that financing for these types of companies is increasing; Global financing for these startups alone increased to 111.8 billion dollars in 2018, 120% more than the 50.8 billion dollars in 2017, according to the KPMG Pulse of Fintech report.
Now you know some of the things that are needed to open a fintech startup in Mexico. But remember that even if you have a business model and your idea has no flaws, it is advisable to try it before seeking help from investment funds, suggests Medrano. “It is not good to acquire such debts if your company does not have a basic client portfolio or does not have a set of basic services defined”.
Also published on Medium.