Introduction to Sofipos and Their Significance
Sociedades Financieras Populares, or Sofipos, are a crucial part of Mexico’s financial landscape. These community-based financial institutions have been instrumental in providing credit and savings services to underserved populations, fostering financial inclusion. Their role in the Mexican economy has grown significantly over the years, making their performance a key indicator of financial health.
Recent Deposit Capture Performance
According to the latest Ahorro Financiero y Financiamiento report by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), Sofipos captured 165,364 million pesos by the end of March 2025. This translates to a real annual growth rate of 97.2%, equivalent to 0.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Comparison with Previous Year
Although the figure surpasses the growth rates of other entities, it reflects a deceleration compared to the previous year’s performance. In 2023, Sofipos experienced a real annual growth rate of 179.8%, a substantial difference of 82.6 percentage points from the recently reported growth rate.
Impact of Interest Rate Changes
The growth was maintained even amidst a decline in the Banco de México’s reference rate, which dropped from 11.25% in 2023 to 8.00% following the June 2025 monetary policy decision. During this period, several Sofipos offered interest rates exceeding the reference rate, with some still doing so. For instance, DiDi and Nu offer annual yields of up to 15%, potentially sustaining the sector’s appeal.
Other Financial Intermediaries’ Performance
The report also highlights the performance of other financial intermediaries:
- Multiple Banking: The primary component of total deposit capture, multiple banking registered a real growth rate of 5.0% between March 2024 and March 2025, with a balance of 8.2 trillion pesos, equivalent to 23.7% of the GDP.
- Development Banking: Development banking increased its capture by 14.8% annually in real terms and reached 4.1% of the GDP.
- Cooperative Savings and Loan Societies (Socaps): Socaps grew by 9.7% annually in real terms, with a balance representing 0.7% of the GDP.
- Credit Unions: Credit unions grew by 4.2% and reached just 0.1% of the GDP.
Combined Performance of Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries
Collectively, Sofipos, Socaps, and credit unions (authorized non-bank financial intermediaries for deposit receipts) accounted for 1.3% of the GDP in deposit capture.
