“This is the starting point to explore new opportunities, opening ourselves to expand and diversify our products”, said Juan Manuel Matheu, the general manager of financial businesses at the firm, to Señal DF.
In recent years, Falabella’s parent company has been developing a careful strategy to strengthen the presence of its financial business in the Mexican market.
Recently, this growth plan has been driven by the company’s positive momentum, as well as the experience and focus of Enrique Ostalé, the chairman who joined Falabella two years ago after serving as the CEO of Walmart in Mexico for nearly a decade.
Amid this context, the financial business is going through key moments, especially in the only country where it operates and where Banco Falabella has not yet been established.
Why? Recently, the holding company announced to the market that it is in the process of expanding its range of financial products and services through a new legal figure called Sofipo (Sociedad Financiera Popular). With this, the firm would go beyond the credit cards it has offered for six years and could incorporate debit, savings, or investment solutions, allowing it to approach the model that Banco Falabella has consolidated in Chile, Peru, and Colombia.
Within the company, they explain that the logic behind offering debit cards, savings accounts, term deposits, and savings accounts aligns with addressing low banking penetration and the high use of cash in Mexico.
“In Mexico, there is a financial gap that has excluded various socio-economic segments. This is why Sofipos exist, with the main purpose of expanding access to financing and transactional accounts to unbanked groups,” explained Juan Manuel Matheu, general manager of Falabella’s financial business, to Señal DF.
For this reason, the company is preparing to begin the process of obtaining permits from Mexican authorities, and it will focus on gathering documentation and technical requirements during the first half of this year to request authorization.
“We expect to present the documentation to the regulator during the second half of the year (…) and to receive the authorization in 2026”, said Matheu about the progress of the process, adding that they expect to receive updates soon.
Although the legal figure of the Sofipo is different from a banking license, the implications for the development of Falabella’s financial business in the Mexican market will be significant. The reception of customer funds will allow their use as a new source of financing — which means cheaper funding costs — currently supported by bank debt and capital from the parent company.
Moreover, they will be able to advance their strategy to grow and face digital giants like Nubank.
“We are writing the history of Falabella’s financial business in Mexico (…) This is the starting point to explore new opportunities, opening ourselves to expand and diversify our products,” emphasized Matheu.
Although the market is wondering when Banco Falabella will be established in Mexico, sources within the company dismiss the idea that they are currently working on that process and state that its arrival will only occur if there is a customer demand. However, they are evaluating adding future lines of insurance.
Maintaining Growth
Falabella’s financial business in Mexico began six years ago when the Chilean retailer bought Citibank’s stake in the joint venture with Soriana, one of the most relevant players in the country’s retail industry, with nearly 1,000 supermarket stores.
Called Falabella Soriana, the company started with credit cards and, recently, has incorporated the possibility of cash transfers and, more recently, consumer loans.
Both partners hold a 50% stake in the company, led by Leonardo Lacomoni, an Argentine executive who worked at BBVA and served as manager of Cencosud Financiero in his home country.
Under his leadership, the company has seen significant growth. Falabella Soriana’s placement portfolio shows a 25% annual growth rate, and since 2019, it has quadrupled credit card usage, reaching USD 747 million in 2024. Today, the company has 514,000 clients with active credit lines, distributed between credit cards and personal loans, representing about 6% of the company’s regional customer base.
With Sofipo, the company aims to maintain these growth rates and high expectations for the future. “Given the large size of the Mexican market, we have vast growth potential, and we are convinced there is enormous space to expand”, said the executive.
Digital Competition
The company explains that its business model in Mexico is based on a digital financial offering, while maintaining a physical presence in stores. The goal is to offer simple, 100% digital products, accompanied by benefits and commercial agreements.
Meanwhile, several technology-based financial businesses are advancing along the same lines in Mexico, opening up increasingly aggressive competition, with the main competitor being the Brazilian neobank Nubank. Additionally, OpenBank — Santander’s digital bank — recently announced the start of its operations in Mexico, and MercadoLibre is expected to join the race.
However, Falabella is confident in its differentiating attributes compared to 100% digital banks: the backing provided by its physical store presence and greater benefits for its clients, even if that means higher costs.
