Inswitch & SíHay: an alliance for the benefit of small businesses

Inswitch, a fintech with global reach, and SíHay, a company of Grupo Modelo (AB-InBev) that assists small and medium-sized enterprises to grow through its digital financial services platform, have entered into an alliance to help digitalize the distribution network of Grupo Modelo, thus eliminating the use of cash and promoting their clients’ financial inclusion. The purpose of said alliance is its multinational reach, and Mexico is the first country to have access to its benefits. 

Inswitch is a company specialized in embedded financial technology, helping  organizations from any industry to implement digital financial services. It recently started operating in Mexico, with the objective of making its platform and products available to all Mexican companies, and to those international corporations looking for payment solutions in such country.

Currently, Inswitch is seeking to conquer the Mexican market and foresees that its transactions there will surpass the 10-million mark by 2022. The company is present in the United States -where its HQ is-, has an Innovation and Development Center in Uruguay, and operates in 30 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, with over 80 million users. 

In Mexico, one of the main sources of work is informal employment. According to the latest National Survey on Occupation and Employment (ENEO by its acronym in Spanish), between April and June 2021, said informality included 31 million workers.

The country also lacks banking services. “Out of 126 million inhabitants in the Republic, pursuant to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its acronym in Spanish), 67% do not have access to financial services and 57% of Mexican towns do not have banking infrastructure. For such purposes, the alliance between Inswitch and SíHay seeks to reduce such gaps and percentages,” mentioned Ronald Alvarenga, CEO of Inswitch.

Inswitch began its activities in Mexico in June this year and considered that having an ally that dominates the local market, like Grupo Modelo -through its company SíHay- is key to strengthening its presence in the country even more.

SíHay is a company created by Z-Tech, the technological and innovative arm of Grupo Modelo (AB-InBev). Z-Tech is focused on the development of solutions based on technology and innovation to help small and medium-sized enterprises grow. For that reason, Z-Tech created SíHay, a digital financial services platform with the objective of promoting financial inclusion of SMEs (PyMEs by its acronym in Spanish) in Mexico. Thanks to the infrastructure of Grupo Modelo, the company serves a great number of businesses, including stores, warehouses, bars and restaurants. Moreover, their value chain reaches over 2 million people approximately.

The alliance between Inswitch & SíHay guarantees small entrepreneurs and startups to be in the vanguard of technology and preserve their financial health, in addition to protecting their inventory and income electronically.

“This alliance makes us feel very proud, because SíHay is a company that shares our same objectives. And that is not all as, thanks to its infrastructure, we can help more Mexican entrepreneurs. Growing is one of our main goals but, if we can grow together with our Mexican clients, it will be twice as satisfying for us”, said Ronald Alvarenga, CEO of Inswitch.

“The alliance with Inswitch brings us closer to the technology and strength required to offer a great financial services product, adapted to the needs of the clients of Grupo Modelo, digitalizing cash, offering more and better opportunities, promoting financial inclusion and the chances that our clients need to grow”, said Arturo Cuevas, CEO of SíHay in Mexico.