Until a few years ago, the dispute for first place in the Mexican financial system was between BBVA and Banamex.
However, the entity, still belonging to the American Citigroup, has lost market share, a situation that Banorte and Santander have taken advantage of at this time to surpass it.
Today, at the head of the financial groups is BBVA with 2.8 trillion pesos in assets, followed by Banorte with 1.8 trillion and Santander with 1.6 trillion. Banamex ranks fourth with 1.5 billion. Even so, it is one of the most important in the sector.
According to information from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), in 2018 Citibanamex was still in second place by assets.
Then he went to third place, and as of 2020 he was in fourth place, from where he has not come back. The second place has been occupied in this time, either by Santander or Banorte.
lose ground
An analysis by Credit Suisse highlights that Citibanamex has steadily lost ground over the last five years.
Proof of this, he points out, is that it has lost 408 base points of participation in the total loan market (in the different segments) to remain at 10 percent. Here stands out the loss of up to 567 basis points in the consumer segment in the period, where, it says, it has a market of 15.8 percent.
It highlights that the story has not been different on the financing side, with a market share loss of 229 basis points in retail deposits in the last five years. Furthermore, he emphasizes, it has also consistently lagged behind the system in terms of profitability.
For its part, an analysis by BofA Securites states that although Citibanamex has been losing market share in recent years, “we believe that the franchise could attract the interest of many potential stakeholders with operations in Mexico.”
eduardo.juarez@eleconomista.mx
