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Financial inclusion remains a critical challenge in many emerging economies, where millions of people still lack access to affordable and reliable financial services. In Mexico, large segments of the population rely on informal credit or short-term liquidity solutions to manage everyday financial shocks.
For more than two centuries, Nacional Monte de Piedad has played a unique role in addressing this challenge. Founded in 1775, the institution is one of the oldest philanthropic financial organizations in the Americas. It was created with the explicit mission of providing fair and accessible loans to people who lack access to traditional banking services.
Through a nationwide network of branches, Monte provides collateral-based loans that allow individuals to access short-term liquidity without the extremely high interest rates often charged by commercial pawn shops. Their approach prioritises social impact over profit, offering lower interest rates and fair valuation of pledged assets.
A defining characteristic of Monte’s model is its focus on helping customers recover their possessions. More than 80% of pawned items are reclaimed, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to responsible lending and financial resilience for borrowers. When pledged items are sold, any surplus value beyond the loan amount is returned to the customer through a mechanism known as “Demasía”, ensuring borrowers retain any additional value generated.
Today, Monte supports approximately three million families annually, providing critical access to short-term finance and helping households navigate unexpected financial needs. Beyond lending services, the institution also directs resources toward social programmes addressing education, housing, health, food security, gender equality, and community development. These initiatives benefit around two million people each year through more than 600 partner organisations.
As financial services rapidly evolve through digital technology, Monte recognised the need to strengthen its innovation capabilities in order to expand its impact and continue serving millions of people effectively in a changing financial landscape.
Despite its long history and strong social mission, Monte faced several strategic challenges common to mission-driven financial institutions navigating digital transformation.
Key challenges included:
• Identifying new financial products that better address evolving customer needs
• Integrating digital technologies into traditionally branch-based service models
• Building internal innovation capabilities within a large and historic organisation
• Strengthening connections between social impact objectives and new product development
• Evaluating emerging entrepreneurial initiatives aligned with Monte’s mission
At the same time, Mexico’s financial ecosystem has seen rapid growth in fintech innovation, creating opportunities to deliver more accessible, affordable, and efficient financial services.
The challenge therefore was to develop a structured innovation approach that could help Monte explore new solutions while preserving its core mission of financial inclusion.
Net Positive Labs worked with Monte to strengthen its internal innovation capabilities and support the development of new initiatives aligned with its social mission.
The collaboration focused on building structured innovation processes while identifying opportunities for digital transformation and new product development.
Identifying Strategic Innovation Opportunities
A first step involved analysing Monte’s existing operations and identifying key areas where digital technologies could enhance services and improve accessibility.
This included exploring opportunities in areas such as:
• Digital customer engagement
• Operational efficiency in lending processes
• New financial products addressing underserved segments
By identifying priority innovation domains, Monte could focus resources on initiatives with the greatest potential impact.
Introducing Agile Innovation Methods
To support experimentation and faster learning cycles, Net Positive Labs introduced agile innovation practices across several initiatives.
These methods helped teams structure experimentation, prototype new solutions, and test ideas in real-world conditions. Embedding these practices allowed innovation projects to move forward with greater clarity and adaptability.
Supporting Entrepreneurial Programmes
The collaboration also extended to Monte’s entrepreneurial programmes, which aim to explore new ventures and partnerships aligned with the organisation’s mission.
Net Positive Labs supported:
• Evaluation of potential start-up collaborations
• Development of new product ideas
• Structuring innovation initiatives with measurable impact objectives
These programmes help Monte explore new solutions that could further expand financial inclusion and social impact.
Integrating Sustainability Perspectives
Alongside financial inclusion objectives, the collaboration also incorporated sustainability perspectives to ensure that new initiatives contribute positively to broader environmental and social outcomes.
This included identifying opportunities where financial innovation can support more inclusive and resilient economic systems.
The collaboration helped strengthen Monte’s innovation capabilities and provided clearer direction for the development of new initiatives aligned with its mission.
Key outcomes included:
• Identification of strategic digital innovation opportunities
• Introduction of structured innovation processes and agile methods
• Support for evaluating and developing entrepreneurial initiatives
• Strengthened alignment between innovation efforts and social impact objectives
These capabilities enable Monte to continue evolving its services while maintaining its long-standing mission of supporting financially vulnerable communities.
Few financial institutions in the world combine a 250-year history with a mission-driven approach to financial inclusion. Monte’s continued relevance demonstrates how long-standing social institutions can evolve and innovate to address modern challenges.
By strengthening innovation capabilities and exploring new financial solutions, Monte can expand its impact while remaining true to its founding purpose: helping individuals and families access fair financial services in moments when they need them most.
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