Belvo and Plata Bank partner to strengthen digital banking in Mexico. Published on 29 Apr 2026 Belvo and Plata Bank have announced a strategic alliance to support a new stage of digital banking in Mexico. Through the integration of employment data and bank direct debit, Plata, recently authorized to operate as a digital bank in the country, will strengthen key parts of its operation: from automated income verification to payment and collection automation. The collaboration marks an important step for Mexico's financial sector at a time when institutions are looking to offer products that are faster, safer, and better adapted to users' real economic needs. With Belvo's technology, Plata will be able to optimize real-time approval processes and build a more efficient end-to-end financial experience. This alliance also reflects how Open Finance in Mexico is evolving. It is no longer only about accessing financial data, but about turning that information into practical infrastructure to make better decisions, reduce operational friction, and expand access to formal financial services. An alliance to solve real challenges in digital banking. Access to credit and formal financial products remains one of the biggest challenges in the Mexican market. Although Mexico is one of Latin America's most relevant economies, a large share of the adult population still does not have access to a formal credit card. In many cases, the problem is not a lack of income. The challenge lies in financial institutions' ability to quickly and reliably verify the repayment capacity of people who do not have a strong credit history, have variable income, or cannot prove their employment situation through traditional processes. This is where alternative data and Open Finance solutions create a new opportunity. By enabling access to official and consented information, institutions can better understand each user's economic profile and design processes that are fairer, more precise, and more efficient. In Plata's case, the integration with Belvo connects two critical moments in the financial cycle: * Validating income and employment stability through employment data. * Automating payments and collections through bank direct debit. Together, these solutions help build a more connected operation, where information and payments work as part of the same flow. Employment data: official information for better decision-making. One of the central components of the alliance is the use of employment data. Through Belvo, Plata can access users' official employment information, always with their consent, to understand key variables such as income, employment stability, and professional trajectory. This information helps automate a process that traditionally depended on manual documents, physical payslips, or validations that could take longer. Instead of asking users to upload files or wait several days for a review, Plata can consult relevant information in seconds and make decisions with more context. For the end user, this translates into a simpler and more transparent experience. For the institution, it represents a more accurate way to assess repayment capacity and reduce operational risk. In a country where informality, limited credit history, or the lack of digital proof of income can limit access to financial products, employment data acts as a layer of trust. It helps make visible people who do have stable income, but who are often left out of the traditional system due to insufficient information. As Federica Gregorini, General Manager of Belvo Mexico, explains: "Our mission is to build the financial infrastructure that enables companies to create more human and efficient products. The integration with Plata is an exceptional success story because it uses Open Finance to solve real problems: it reduces risk for the lender and, most importantly, opens the door to thousands of Mexicans who today have stable employment but are invisible to the traditional system due to a lack of data." Bank direct debit: closing the operational loop. The second key piece of the alliance is bank direct debit. This solution enables automatic installment payments directly from the user's bank account, including payroll or savings accounts. In practice, this helps close the operational loop. After income has been validated and a financial product approved, bank direct debit allows payments to be made automatically, reducing forgetfulness, late payments, and friction for the customer. For users, the benefit is clear: a more convenient experience that depends less on manual actions. For Plata, it represents greater certainty in collection processes, a potential reduction in delinquency, and an optimization of operating costs. This type of infrastructure is especially relevant for products such as credit cards, where the payment experience can directly impact both the user's financial health and the efficiency of the business. Automating payments not only improves internal operations; it can also help create more consistent financial habits and prevent late fees caused by missed payment dates. Neri Tollardo, CEO of Plata Bank, highlights that this integration responds to a vision centered on customer experience and efficiency: "At Plata, we are obsessed with customer experience and operational efficiency. Integrating Belvo's employment data and bank direct debit allows us to offer a unique value proposition in Mexico: fairer approvals and frictionless payment processes. It's not just about issuing a card; it's about supporting the user's financial health with technology that understands their economic reality in a comprehensive way." Open Finance applied to an end-to-end operation. The alliance between Belvo and Plata shows one of the main opportunities for Open Finance in Mexico: connecting information, decisions, and payments within the same operation. Rather than treating income verification and collections as separate processes, this model integrates them into a more complete flow. First, the institution gains a better understanding of the user through official and consented information. Then, it can offer an automated payment experience that is simpler and more efficient. This approach is especially important for digital financial institutions that want to scale without sacrificing precision, security, or user experience. In a market where speed of response is increasingly important, having infrastructure capable of processing information in real time becomes a competitive advantage. After a certification and production testing phase that concluded at the end of January, Plata began scaling its query volumes. This reflects not only the capacity of Belvo's infrastructure to process information flows under banking-grade security standards, but also the Mexican market's demand for more agile digital financial products. What this alliance means for the future of finance in Mexico. This strengthened collaboration comes at a key moment for Mexico's fintech and banking ecosystem. The country is moving toward a new stage of consolidation, where companies that successfully combine data, technology, and operational efficiency will be better positioned to create more competitive financial products. The adoption of Open Finance models allows institutions like Plata to evolve toward more sophisticated services, with faster processes, greater analytical capacity, and better user experiences. But the impact goes beyond internal efficiency. When data is used with consent, security, and purpose, it can help reduce historical access barriers. People with stable income, but limited visibility within the traditional financial system, can find new opportunities to access formal products. Belvo and Plata show that the future of finance in Mexico will not depend only on offering more products, but on building better infrastructure to understand, operate, and support users' financial lives. Build smarter financial experiences with Belvo. The alliance with Plata Bank is an example of how Belvo helps companies transform data and payments into more efficient, secure, and user-centered operations. With employment data and bank direct debit solutions, Belvo enables financial institutions, fintechs, and digital companies to automate critical processes, improve decision-making, and create simpler experiences for their customers. Want to learn how Belvo can help strengthen your financial operation end to end? Schedule a demo with its team and discover how to bring Open Finance into your business.

Mexican gym chain partners with Belvo to improve payment infrastructure. Smart Fit, the leading gym chain in Mexico with over 420 gyms, announces a strategic partnership with Belvo, the leading Open Finance data and payments platform in Latin America. The objective is to radically transform the payment experience for its 1.2 million users, implementing a more inclusive, efficient, and low-friction bank direct debit model, moving away from the issues generated by traditional payment methods. The alliance comes at a crucial time: in Mexico, seven out of 10 people suffer from financial stress. Therefore, access to wellness services should not cause further anxiety. The problem is that the growing "recurrence economy" (subscriptions) clashes with a payment infrastructure that prioritises the credit card, excluding a large part of the Mexican population. Smart Fit understood that, to continue leading in wellness, every touchpoint with its users must contribute to a high-quality 360 experience. Among these is the payment process. With this vision of continuous improvement, the chain decided to evolve its direct debit system and integrate Belvo's platform. Unlike the conventional banking scheme, Belvo allows users to link their accounts digitally, securely, and instantly to authorise their recurring payments. This advancement not only strengthens the relationship with users by offering a more agile and reliable process, but also reduces involuntary churn and provides the peace of mind of genuine "set it and forget it" payment. "Wellness must be holistic. You cannot, as an industry, promote physical health if, at the same time, you are generating or perpetuating financial stress," states Federica Gregorini, general manager of Belvo in Mexico. "This alliance is Belvo's central thesis in action: using financial technology as a bridge. We are connecting millions of Mexicans with the services they want and need, using the most fundamental payment rail they have: their own bank account. It is about democratising access to wellness, eliminating the barrier of whether your card was approved or not." The results of the implementation have been forceful. Smart Fit experienced explosive growth of 200% in successful month-over-month collection. More importantly, the chargeback rate - the metric that measures payment disputes and is the main headache for subscription businesses - was drastically reduced to an extraordinary level, positioning it below 1%. "As market leaders, our obsession is the experience of our users. We identified that the moment of payment was a key point to continue elevating that experience," commented Rodrigo San Pedro, finance director (CFO) of Smart Fit Mexico. "We wanted a robust, secure solution that provided certainty to both the user and our business. In that search, we found in Belvo a direct debit model that better fits our vision for growth and the agility we need. With Belvo, we not only strengthened the stability of our collection with a minimal chargeback rate, but we also sent a clear and resounding message of inclusion to thousands of Mexicans: 'You don't need a credit card to be in shape'. That is a true enabler of well-being."