A New Way for Corner Stores to Do Business

Last September, Banxico launched a digital payment platform named CoDi. It was developed to provide a safe way to make payments through a mobile device quickly and efficiently. Transactions are completed in a short time and the platform works all year round. According to Alejandro Díaz de León, Governor of Banxico, the bank has made it a requirement for all employees to use CoDi, which was first tested in Hidalgo, Baja California Sur and Yucatan to be sure the platform had what it takes to provide the service. 

CoDi is an extension to SPEI that uses NFC technology to scan codes through a mobile device to make a payment. A previous MBN article mentioned its implementation could be complicated due to problems that have arisen following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to AMVO, there is still a lot of interest from Citibanamex, PepsiCo and Amigo PAQ to use it as much as possible. 

According to AMVO, those three companies formed an alliance that will try to boost the use of CoDi among 850,000 corner stores and PepsiCo distributors. 

The alliance is starting with a pilot program called "Sin morralla en la tienda" (No Change at the Store), that expects to reach 50 thousand clients by the end of the year, according to AMVO. "This will boost financial inclusion since no commissions, initial deposits or minimum balances are needed," said Rodrigo Kuri, Director General of Citibanamex, to AMVO. Another contributing factor is how easy it is to create an account, as there is no paperwork involved. It takes as much as five minutes to be all setup, said Kuri. 

In the article from AMVO, it is stated that PepsiCo is present in over 1 million corner stores, which represent 60 percent of its sales. By implementing CoDi, the company expects payment processes and transactions will be safer. It will also help to create customized offers according to the sector each store is focused on, as well as making more specific deals and offers that work better for everyone, according to Carlos Sánchez Abril, Director of Innovation and Transformation of Sales at PepsiCo Mexico. 

According to Jorge López de la Peña, CEO of Amigo PAQ, corner stores seemed destined to be replaced by supermarkets and bigger stores, but they did not. “They actually have adapted to the needs they can solve,” he said. But corner stores are still vulnerable in a way, so helping them with tools to adapt to the new electronic era to not depend on cash can help them, not only during the pandemic but for years to come.