Early years and the 2000s In 2002, Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego decided to create a banking institution focused on the country's underbanked segment. A year earlier, he had applied to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit for an operating license, which was finally granted in March 2002. Banco Azteca officially began operations on 30 October of that year. The institution was created using the geographical presence of the group, thanks to the Elektra stores, a retail chain of Grupo Elektra. By 2003, Banco Azteca had more than 800 branches in these stores, eight independent contact points and 96 modules in various third-party channels. In the same year, the bank signed an agreement with the National Workers' Housing Fund Institute (
INFONAVIT) to provide mortgage services. In 2004, Banco Azteca entered the insurance sector with the creation of
Seguros Azteca. In the same year, it began offering bank loans to small farmers and launched the Empresario Azteca initiative to finance small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2005, it became the first Mexican bank to operate internationally, opening branches in Panama and launching the Azteca Card. In 2015 banking executive Alejandro Valenzuela del Río took over as the institution's director. The bank celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2017 at an event at
Campo Marte in Mexico City. In 2018 the institution ranked thirteenth on the BrandZTop 30 list of Mexico's most valuable brands compiled by the global data company Kantar Millward Brown with a value of 1.167 billion dollars. In 2019 the bank participated in financial inclusion forums such as the Women's Economic Forum and the Women's Forum Americas in Mexico City. The same year it inaugurated the "Space Academy of Savernauts" a financial culture exhibition aimed at children and young people. It was exhibited for two years at the
Interactive Museum of Economics.
The 2020s and the present In 2020, the institution launched a new financial product called Mobile Azteca Business Banking The launch of ApiLAB, a new digital platform aimed at offering Banco Azteca's products and services through third parties, was announced by Juan Carlos Arroyo, general director of Grupo Elektra Digital, at the "APIs in the Transformation of Mexico" forum held in November 2020. Arroyo also stated that the platform will be launched in 2021. The bank allocated 11 billion pesos to optimize its digitalization system. In 2023, Banco Azteca reinforced its commitment to sport by sponsoring the Mexican Olympic team. The bank supported Mexican athletes participating in the
Paris 2024 Olympic Games and on their way to Los Angeles 2028. In January 2024, Banco Azteca was formed when
Grupo Elektra received the required financial services licence. The bank began operating on January 7, 2024. In February 2024, Francisco Tonatiuh Rodríguez Gómez was appointed CEO and Alejandro Valenzuela became Chairman of the Board. == Business model ==