
Top 5
Grupo Financiero Banorte has been following its own aspirational philosophy for over a century. Moment by moment, in each location and region of Mexico, with each generation, in the relevant changes of the country, it has helped people to take advantage of opportunities and overcome complex situations in all areas of their lives. It is with this character that we are today the strongest and largest Mexican financial group.
Our history is intertwined with that of Mexico. Every decision, every loan, every business supported, and every project financed leaves a footprint that impacts families, businesses and entire communities. Because when they prosper, Mexico prospers, and so does Banorte.
We understand that hidden opportunities are always present and Banorte knows how to take advantage of them. For this reason, it is not surprising that our origin is in the capital of the booming state of Nuevo León, in the north of the country, distinguished by its industrial vocation. We were created with the knowledge and ambition to meet the needs of Monterrey companies that today are a symbol of entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and resilience. Already at that time, the customer was at the centre of our nascent ambitions. On November 16, 1899, Banco Mercantil de Monterrey was founded, a local bank that years later would evolve into a regional bank.
Our next predecessor, Banco Regional del Norte, was created almost half a century later, in 1947. Both financial institutions merged in the 1980s to create Banco Mercantil del Norte, today known as Banorte, which through a strategy of investments, mergers and acquisitions achieved the diversification and strengthening of its banking platform with national coverage.
As a result, we integrated businesses that today allow us to offer the most diversified portfolio of financial services in the market: banking for individuals, companies of all sizes, and governments, as well as international banking, insurance, fund management, brokerage, and retirement savings, among others.
Banorte’s history is one of transformation and progress. We have evolved, modernised and embraced every innovation, always reinforcing our essence: customers at the centre of everything we do. This vision made us migrants of evolution: we adopt with agility and opportunity each technological transformation, which is why we are digital pioneers, offering financial products and services that respond to the needs of each of our customers.
Becoming the best financial group
Focusing on the recent stage of the group’s technological, cultural and business transformation means reiterating our founding principle, which is to have the customer at the centre of everything we do.
In 2014, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the organisation to identify areas of opportunity and define the path we should follow from now on. The goal was ambitious: to become the best financial group for our clients, investors and employees.
The goal was ambitious, to become the best financial group for our clients, investors and employees
In 2015, we launched the ‘Strategic Plan Vision 2020,’ setting out ambitious five-year goals in terms of profits, profitability and efficiency, but above all with the firm intention of making a difference in the customer experience. How did we achieve this? With talent, technology and innovation. First, we increased the physical and digital means for transactions, allowing customers the option of either accessing Banorte services in a branch, attended efficiently and expeditiously by an executive, or digitally – anywhere and at any time.
Thanks to these efforts, today we have an infrastructure that allows us to have an omnichannel approach to our customers, which translates into enhanced support and a closer relationship with all our users.
To provide this unique experience and exceed our clients’ expectations, we have had to take a collaborative approach, focusing on a continuous process of evolving from a bricks and mortar operation to a modern, digital enterprise. We have improved our branches through digitisation, making them increasingly efficient and functional, while freeing up executive capacity to provide a more focused and personalised experience for the customer, when needed.
In terms of the digitalisation efforts set out in our 20/20 vision, we have developed a central data repository to get to know our customers better; we have consolidated the customer experience through innovative techniques and customer data analysis, and have built layered, flexible, agile and responsive architecture to provide an unparalleled digital experience for our clients.
Our analytics team utilises machine learning and behavioural analysis to further personalise the services we provide, and we also use this analysis for fraud prevention by using predictive modelling.
All these changes and their respective results were achieved thanks to the work of the cells, multi-disciplinary and collaborative groups in which ideas come together and converge to generate projects that add value to the institution, employees, investors, society and, of course, our customers. This model continues to date and is a source of initiatives for the growth and consolidation of Grupo Financiero Banorte.
Banking in a digital world
In 2020, in the wake of the global pandemic, we reflected on the accelerated digital transformation that confinement brought about in society. The result was an ambitious strategy, the ‘Plan one, two, three,’ set for the period 2021 to 2023. The vision was renewed: to be the best financial group for our clients, investors, and employees, and an equally ambitious mission was redefined: to position ourselves as the number one in banking in a digital world, while maintaining leadership in profitability and sustainability.
To achieve this, we relied on these three plans. The first of these was aimed at providing a one-to-one seamless digital experience, integrating the full range of our products, reducing the processing time for these and improving the customer experience. We developed and released a new version of the Banorte Mobile app for the benefit of all our customers.
Our second plan for this period was to modernise our technological infrastructure to not only drive hyper-personalisation, but also to help us compete with challengers in the digital realm.
The third step in our strategy for this period was to launch a 100 percent digital bank, which we did in January 2024, when we launched Bineo. With this model we seek to share cost efficiencies with our customers through rewards programmes, points accumulation and commission benefits.
In this way, we remain more competitive than ever. Today Banorte is a digital bank with branches. All these actions have earned us national and international recognition, which materialised with the ‘Best Banking App,’ ‘Best Digital Consumer Bank’ and ‘Best Retail Bank’ in Mexico awards conferred by World Finance.
Making something extraordinary
This year, 2024, we celebrate our 125th anniversary, commemorating our history of effort, hard work, innovation, citizenship and social commitment. We know that people expect extraordinary actions and services from us. The actions taken over the last 20 years have positioned us as the Mexican financial group at the heart of the country.
We adapt, react nimbly, and anticipate customer needs to put the ‘extra’ in extraordinary
But now is not the time to rest on our laurels. We are currently assimilating the accelerated changes that mark the new era. To this end, we have continued on with our strategic plans, adding four, five and six on from the previous period. These plans represent a continuous process for us, but namely they are to: be the best experience in the market, provide the best customised offer on the market, and be the best business operation of the financial system.
In this way, we adapt, react nimbly, and anticipate customer needs to put the ‘extra’ in extraordinary. With the renewal of our strategy, we will give traction and rhythm to everything we have built. We will focus on returning to our essence as a financial institution, but equipped with technological infrastructure, innovation, talent and cell culture, multidisciplinary and collaborative teams focused on continuously improving processes and results, their ultimate goal being to offer the best customer experience.
Mexico is our home, and we will stay here. Our commitment to the country is unwavering, we honour the past and now our eyes are set on the future. Challenges await us and we are prepared to meet them. Together we will continue to do the ordinary in an extraordinary way! At Banorte, the next 125 years will once again be written hand in hand with Mexico.