Banxico Mandates Banks to Streamline Mobile Transfers

Transferring money from a mobile phone remains, for a significant portion of users in Mexico, a minor exercise in adaptation: each bank requests data in a different order, with distinct interfaces and steps that rarely align between one application and another. This daily friction, which many accepted as a given, is precisely what the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) has decided to address with a reform mandating all institutions in the country to standardize their applications under a unified framework.

The measure was formalized in Circular 9/2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on June 17, 2026, and effective the following day. This represents a reform to the Rules of the Interbank Electronic Payment System (SPEI), the system through which Mexican banks process their electronic transfers.

What Changes for SPEI Money Senders?

The reform incorporates a new element into the SPEI Rules: the “Guidelines for the Harmonization of User Experience in Electronic Fund Transfers via Mobile Devices.” This is a technical document published by Banxico that all banks and fintechs must follow.

Its purpose, according to the document itself, is to reduce friction in sending transfers, making them intuitive, easy, and fast.

In practice, this means that any transfer (whether via SPEI, Dimo, or CoDi) must follow the same sequence of a maximum of four stages, regardless of the sending bank:

User authentication.
Entry of transfer information.
Verification of data consistency and integrity.
Notification of transaction status.

Users should also not notice differences between a transfer within the same bank and one to another institution; the fields and their order must be identical in both cases.

The final notification screen, for instance, will always have to display the transaction status, the amount, the masked beneficiary name, and for transfers between different banks, the link to download the Electronic Payment Receipt (CEP).

A detail that illustrates the spirit of the reform: when a transfer originates from a push notification (as with CoDi), the application will no longer allow the user to edit beneficiary data that was automatically extracted. It’s a minor adjustment, but it reveals the underlying logic of the regulation: to remove unnecessary steps for the user, not add them.

When Must Banks Implement the Changes?

The Circular became effective on June 18, 2026, but Banxico has given the banking sector a transition period: SPEI participants have until December 14, 2026, to fully comply with the Circular and the technical Guidelines.

This date was not arbitrary. Banxico Governor Victoria Rodríguez Ceja had already anticipated the reform in March, during the 89th Banking Convention, when she launched a public consultation to modify the circulars governing mobile transfers.

At that time, she explained that “this reform will be complemented by technical guides, which will specify the processes and steps that all participating SPEI institutions must implement in their applications, in order to simplify and standardize the transaction instruction processes in the payment system.”

The consultation closed on April 20, 2026, two months before the Circular was definitively published.

What Benefits Does Standardization Promise?

For Banxico, the objective is not merely aesthetic. The central bank estimates that the harmonization of applications will benefit over 80 million transfer users and, complementarily, over 4.4 million small businesses.

The second group is key, as the same reform expands the use of simplified “Level 2 Bis” accounts, designed for small businesses. These accounts will be able to receive up to 15,000 UDIS monthly, of which at least 12,000 must come from digital payments.

According to Bloomberg, these accounts will not require tax identification information and can be opened online, potentially attracting the informal economy towards banks and fintechs. However, the same report qualifies the immediate scope of the measure: banks will not be able to issue these accounts until the Ministry of Finance publishes its own anti-money laundering rules for such products.

In other words, the benefit for small businesses still depends on a regulatory piece that is not under Banxico’s control.

Not Everything is Rosy in the Reform

Behind the reform also lies a diagnosis of relative failure: Bloomberg points out that the new rules aim to correct the limitations of CoDi and Dimo, the central bank’s previous schemes that failed to take off as mobile payment methods in a country that remains among the highest users of cash globally and seeks to catch up with Brazil in digital payment adoption.

The Association of Banks of Mexico (ABM) supported the measure and considered it to have “considerable potential impact” by simplifying transfers for everyone and expanding access to the financial system for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The magnitude of the system being standardized is significant: in 2025 alone, SPEI processed over 7.3 billion transfers, amounting to 16.8 times the country’s Gross Domestic Product that year.

Are There Critical Voices Regarding the Reform?

Not the entire sector received the news without reservations. Juan Guerra, CEO of Revolut Mexico, warned that Banxico’s challenge will be to set a minimum standard without stifling innovation among financial institutions.

His argument is that some companies have built their competitive advantage precisely on a better user experience, so “when you impose a kind of general harmonization, it can be detrimental to some of the disruptors who are trying to innovate in the interface and user experience.”

The contrast with ABM’s stance is clear: while traditional banking celebrates the measure’s potential, a fintech like Revolut calls for nuances in its implementation.

Guerra summarized the balance he expects from the regulator: “as a regulator, you are trying to raise the floor, but you don’t want to set a ceiling either. You want there to be a minimum standard so that everything improves without preventing players from continuing to innovate.”

As a reference, he cited the case of Pix in Brazil, an instant payment scheme that, he said, “works and works well” in the 41 countries where Revolut operates.

With the December deadline as a boundary, the question that remains open is not whether banking applications in Mexico will become more similar to each other, but how much room banks and fintechs will retain to continue differentiating themselves within that common mold.