Interoperability: The Decisive Factor for Advancing Financial Inclusion in Mexico

Mexico has put the National Financial Inclusion Policy 2025-2030 (PNIF) on the table with clear goals: expand access to financial services, reduce reliance on cash, and stimulate credit for households and businesses. However, experts and international organizations warn that without full interoperability between payments, savings, credit, and remittances, simply opening more accounts or introducing new apps will not translate into effective usage or increased digital adoption.

The country has strong foundations—real-time payments, a vigorous fintech ecosystem, and growing mobile penetration—but there are still unfinished “bridges” between platforms. The lack of open standards operating uniformly creates friction: businesses need multiple apps and credentials, users can’t move their money without costs or extra steps, and remittances don’t easily convert into savings or credit. The PNIF acknowledges the importance of interoperability, though it still lacks a detailed operational plan with timelines, a national open rails architecture, and clear mechanisms to avoid new digital “silos.”

Brazil is often cited as an example: Pix managed to massify digital payments by operating on a mandatory common layer connecting banks and apps, reducing friction for end users. In Mexico, tools like CoDi or DiMo have not displaced cash in daily life, due to a mix of factors: cash is still deeply rooted in low-value transactions, high levels of informality, adoption barriers for small businesses, and user experiences that are not yet simple or universal enough.

From the industry, the Union of Mexican Financial Institutions (Unifimex) maintains that there is a solid foundation to accelerate integration. They highlight progress from the Fintech Law regarding standardized APIs and emphasize the evolution toward SPEI 2.0 as a step to strengthen open rails and common standards. According to the organization, there are spaces for coordination between CNBV, Banco de México, and the Ministry of Finance to adjust regulations and gather technical input from banks and fintechs, with a focus on portability, data standardization, and technological neutrality.

Investment banks also stress that interoperability goes beyond technical aspects: it’s about user experience and real competition. Integrating payments, transfers, savings, insurance, and investments under common rules can broaden access and lower costs. The potential to democratize savings and investment products exists if the infrastructure is conceived as a digital public good, rather than as closed solutions that fragment the market.

The macroeconomic context adds urgency. Remittances, which exceeded $60 billion in 2023, support consumption for millions of households; turning those flows into savings and credit requires seamless connections between providers. At the same time, nearshoring puts pressure on the need for interoperable payment methods and agile credit for small and medium businesses. With monetary policy still restrictive and inflation proving stubborn in several components, improving operational efficiency and reducing friction through open standards can help lower transaction costs and expand digital acceptance.

The challenges are well-known: closing connectivity gaps in rural areas, making adoption easier for microbusinesses through affordable and user-friendly tools, strengthening cybersecurity and fraud prevention, and advancing financial education. On the regulatory side, the challenge lies in defining rules of the game to ensure true interoperability: open and testable APIs, unique aliases, common protocols for reversals and disputes, account and data portability, appropriate incentives, and, if needed, mandatory participation to prevent new digital islands. Public measurement of results—adoption rates, transaction values and volumes, and merchant acceptance—will be essential to adjust course.

If the PNIF leverages SPEI 2.0 and an open finance framework that works in practice, Mexico can accelerate the transition from cash to digital without leaving anyone behind. Timing and inter-institutional coordination will be crucial: more apps and more accounts will only produce real inclusion if they operate on common rails, with clear rules and a simple experience for people and businesses.

In short, the country has the foundations and the opportunity. The priority is to turn interoperability into a measurable operational policy: open rails, common standards, and low costs for the end user. Otherwise, the proliferation of closed solutions will reinforce the role of cash and limit the benefits of digitization.