Government and Financial Sector Fine-Tune New Inclusion Policy to Attract Savings from Informal Workers
The federal government, together with banks and Afores (retirement fund administrators), is preparing a new National Financial Inclusion Policy aimed at increasing account openings and voluntary savings, with a focus on people working outside the formal sector. According to representatives of the financial sector, the document is expected to be released at the end of November and will include measures to make access to individual retirement accounts easier and expand digital savings channels.
The National Commission of the Retirement Savings System (Consar) has indicated that the strategy will seek to bring in agricultural workers and more women—two groups that still face high barriers to entry. Mari Nieves Lanzagorta, Vice President of Outreach at Amafore, explained that new programs are being designed to encourage voluntary savings, particularly among those who are self-employed or work under arrangements without social security, with the goal of helping more people build up resources for retirement.
The current landscape shows both progress and challenges. According to the 2024 National Financial Inclusion Survey, 76.5% of adults in Mexico have at least one financial product; however, 54.5% of workers are employed in the informal sector, which limits retirement savings coverage. An analysis by Vanguard and México, ¿Cómo Vamos? identifies at least four types of informal work—home businesses, freelance professionals, agricultural activities, and unpaid domestic work—and estimates that just the universe of freelance professionals, nearly 3.4 million people, could potentially save 1.677 billion pesos per month.
The roadmap calls for expanding the use of digital tools to make it easier for people to make small, frequent, and frictionless contributions, leveraging the spread of smartphones, banking agents, and instant transfers. At the same time, the industry recognizes ongoing challenges: connectivity gaps in rural areas, identification procedures that remain difficult for certain groups, low financial literacy in specific segments, and the need to strengthen consumer protection against fraud and cyberattacks.
On the institutional front, the National Council for Financial Inclusion—which includes the Ministry of Finance, SEP (public education), CNBV, Banxico (central bank), Condusef, CNSF, Consar, and IPAB—will coordinate the strategy. The Mexican Banking Association has indicated that financial education content will be introduced into SEP classrooms and will present progress at the March 2026 Banking Convention. These efforts add to the 2020 pension reform, which gradually increased employer contributions and, together with recent reductions in Afore fees, aims to improve future pensions.
The macroeconomic environment presents both opportunities and cautions. With inflation easing from the 2022-2023 highs and monetary policy still restrictive, positive real interest rates could encourage formal savings, although high credit costs continue to squeeze households and microbusinesses. Remittances remain a key source of household income, and nearshoring of manufacturing investment opens the door to more formal employment in certain regions. Still, informality remains high in services and rural activities, where banking presence and digital infrastructure lag behind.
To turn the new policy into tangible results, experts highlight the need to simplify account opening with digital and biometric identification, promote interoperability among banks, Afores, and fintech, and enable voluntary contributions from multiple access points—ATMs, banking agents, apps, and social programs—with low fees and clear rules. Impact measurement should include not only the number of active accounts but also balances, contribution frequency, and reductions in gaps by gender, region, and education level.
In rural areas, the financial inclusion of women and agricultural workers will require tailored solutions: flexible savings plans for seasonal incomes, mobile service modules, financial education content in indigenous languages, and partnerships with local organizations. The involvement of state and municipal governments will be key to scaling up pilot projects and improving payment infrastructure in remote communities.
In summary, the plan aims to close the gap between the digital progress of the financial system and the reality of over half the workforce operating informally. If executed with operational simplicity, strong user protection, and appropriate incentives, the policy could boost long-term savings and strengthen the domestic market. The challenge lies in turning announcements into services that are accessible, reliable, and consistently used.
