BBVA Bancomer

How Mexico's largest financial institution built the dominant money transfer service.

Challenge:
Key members of BBVA Bancomer S.A. believed an enormous opportunity for a money wiring service existed among U.S. Hispanics, especially those of Mexican origin. The market was not only large, but showed strong signs of continued growth.

To move forward, the bank needed to understand the decision drivers among Mexican immigrants when choosing a money transfer company to send money back home. More importantly, Bancomer needed to know what would be the return on investment if they were to enter the U.S. with this type of business.

Solution:
AMS initiated a market assessment phase to analyze Hispanics of Mexican origin. The purpose: to clearly understand their use of financial products and services. By utilizing existing secondary data as well as primary qualitative and quantitative research, we were better able to determine important decision-making factors.

To identify the opportunities for creating a first-rate money transfer service, we also took a careful look at the competition and distribution channels available in the U.S. and Mexico. Based on this, we conducted a thorough site analysis and identified key locations for the first set of branches in Los Angeles. This intelligence enabled us to build the business case for initial funding.

Results:
Bancomer Transfer Services, Inc. (BTS) was successfully launched with several stand-alone branches in Southern California. Investment payback was achieved after only two years, not the projected five-year period. BTS then expanded efforts to Northern California, Texas, Oregon and New York. The company currently maintains a 55% market share of the $10 Billion money transfers paid in Mexico and now offers money transfers to nine other Latin American countries. AMS continues to provide consulting services supporting expansion, strategic alliance efforts, marketing and distribution intelligence and strategies.