Poverty and economic balance in AMLO’s government carried out by Banco Azteca

Mexico reaches the end of this government with a favorable macroeconomic managementcon fiscal stability y low inflation; However, concerns arise about the increase in public spending and debt for large infrastructure projects, warns Alejandro ValenzuelaPresident of Azteca Bank.

Facing the 87 Banking Convention which will take place on April 18 and 19 in Acapulco, Guerrerothe newly appointed president of the Board of Directors of Azteca Bank highlights in interview with Advertising meter among other topics, the accelerated advances in digital banking, and ensures that the institution invests billions to tackle cyberattacks.

“Extreme poverty was attacked, but it is not about flattening us, but about promoting” Alejandro Valenzuela

What assessment do you make of the government to lead the country economically?

— The macroeconomic balance is favorable. The level of the Public finances has been notable throughout this six-year term, the public debt was maintained, the inflation was on the decline, the government acted with great responsibility, particularly in the scenario of the Covid. Now, this year 2024 we see that the public spendingmore will be required indebtedness, that discipline that we had maintained is a little disordered. We are going to have to let time evaluate these investment projects that were made throughout the six-year term.

What challenges do you see in the future?

—There is a lot of talk about nearshoringWell, we are going to need technicians, qualified people, people perfectly bilingual or trilingual to be able to work with these multinational companies, engineers, trained technicians, to be able to live up to the challenges.

For politicians on the campaign trail, what does the financial group warn they should pay attention to?

— Sadly we are a overdiagnosed country. We are like those who go to see the doctor and they say ‘you have to do this’, and I go back to the same doctor and he answers me ‘I already told you so’. In Mexico we need to invest in educationin infrastructurein health, and also attack the most marginalized areas of the country to make them viable. There are issues that we already know over and over again, and we must attack them. In this six-year term, marginalized areas were strongly attacked and extreme poverty, but in contrast, we have not created wealth precisely to pull everyone up. It’s not about flattening us, it’s about pushing forward.

What balance do you make of the Banco del Bienestar and what would be the pending issues that you observe in its operation?

—What they achieved very well was the infrastructure. There are branches everywhere. What is missing is the essence of a bank: capturing, lending and being a payment system. It still does not comply in any of these aspects, it is distributing resources left and right, but it is not yet a financial entity. It will require continuity, and the next administration will hopefully take the good that was achieved and make up for the gaps.

When the pandemic hit we had spikes in delinquencies, is all this behind us?

—Traditional banking did have a major problem late payment and he got more troubled. Banco Azteca, along with Banco Coppel, never had that problem, because we serve the population, let’s say, of the sector popular, who never stopped working, never stopped keeping their credits current. So, even though there was the issue of the pandemic, the Mexican popular sector never stopped. As a consequence, our Past due portfolio He never got into trouble. Of the programs that the government offered so that people could breathe, only 4% of our account holders took them, and of that 4%, only 2% got into trouble.

Are you worried about the growth of informality?

– The informality It is a problem that Mexico has diagnosed, we know what to do, but they have not dared. If there was a generalized value added tax, at that time it would be impossible to stop paying taxes. And there has always been a political confusion between what it means to collect a tax and provide support. There has been no political will or political courage. If we generalize the IVAthe informal economy would end in a flash, but they are very afraid of wanting to do it.

What stand out as advantages of digital banking and how do they improve our operations?

— Today more than 20 million users are using it every day, which shows us that it has an impressive penetration capacity and certainly generates new challenges such as the issue of cybersecurity. This forces us to invest gigantic amounts in order to maintain the most sensitive point that there can be in the financial relationship between individuals, which is credibility and trust.

What magnitude of investments are made to maintain cybersecurity?

— Hundreds of millions of dollars and it has been accumulating every year. We have a unit that is strictly dedicated to looking at cybersecurity for the bank and the group, but the shields have to be various.

“In the past it was much easier to rob a bank in a branch with a gun, today it is by trying to smash three, four little buttons, the money comes out and there was no issue of struggle in any branch. It changed our world completely”

— Alejandro Valenzuela

Should legal regulation be adjusted to prevent or punish cybercrimes?

— The problem is that many attacks come from other countries, so a confederation of countries is required to agree and be behind all these individuals.

What new financial products or markets do you project, beyond the niche of small payments?

— There are always challenges. We are working on the digitization of products and in giving our customers experiences, more than products, that allow them to achieve their objectives.

The agiotistas modernized to be debt montagers, does their operation worry you?

— Without a doubt, because they violate everyone, they are evildoers, the rotten fruit that harms the rest. We have to be behind them, we have to work on training people to be alert, to be informed. We have seen an improvement in all areas of phishing y pharming and all these issues where they were asking people for their information to steal from them, they managed to have it because they colluded, between people who work here and people who are outside. No one is going to look for you on our behalf, do not take their calls, look for our phone numbers directly, contact us.

What are the locks that are being renewed and reinforced to prevent irregular operations in remittances, such as money laundering?

— The first thing is that we know whose money comes from and to whom it goes. Then we look for them to pass all the tests of what can be interpreted as financing of any terrorist activity. We have sought to be very close to the US regulator, we are permanently on guard. Surely there are goals, but the fact that it could become systematic is what we are trying to avoid, especially that Azteca It is the main remittance bank in Mexico and forces us to put the barrier exactly where it should be so that everyone does it in the best way.

There are accusations on networks of inappropriate practices by bank collectors. How do they improve the experience and promote financial culture?

— To lend to any individual, we go to visit him, learn about his capabilities and from that we decide if he is subject to credit or not, because he is not giving us absolutely anything as a guarantee, we are believing him. In a smaller percentage, they suddenly stop paying, so we have to bother them, remind them. There comes a time when these people do not want to pay, then they are no longer clients, we call them debtors and then we go to the last legal consequences, because they are a bad example for the rest of the people who do comply correctly. So if they complain, they are shameless. There is nothing more sacred for the bank than our relationship with a client, our obligation is to give it the capabilities to be able to restructure.