Santander México’s financial inclusion initiative, Tuiio, aims to have a positive impact on society by offering financial products and services for those often unengaged by traditional financial institutions. It has created an education strategy to build trust and impart knowledge for Mexican families to make informed financial decisions.

With its customers, their families and the community in mind, Tuiio designs its own financial education resources, with a focus on groups such as adults, children and micro-entrepreneurs. It tackles a range of subjects, from how to assess saving and ability to pay, to how to treat customers, as well as offering health and finance advice during times of crisis.

These in-house designs enable Tuiio to meet the specific needs of customers, even in extreme situations such as the covid-19 pandemic.  

Local educators

Tuiio’s financial education model is website-based and leverages digitalization and technology through content that is easily distributed on WhatsApp. It also counts on the support of the commercial network. Tuiio’s advisers provide tailor-made lessons to customers to help them manage their money.

All its financial advisers are from the same community as the customers and are trained to help them develop their financial skills. When joining, Tuiio staff attend a course on personal finance where they learn the basics to understand and apply financial concepts. They have truly become champions of financial education. As members of the communities they serve, they build trust and convey simply and clearly to their “people” the importance of learning and having sound business and household finances.

Another of Tuiio’s strategies is to create partnerships with key players, such as the Niños de Bobashi IAP organization, whose initiatives improve the quality of life of children from the Mazahua-Otomí communities.

Tuiio has delivered training and resources to the Bobashi volunteers; they have passed this on together with new materials and activities for children using familiar language and examples.

Activity with Bobashi children

Financial education, an empowerment tool

Tuiio believes education is the cornerstone of financial inclusion and enables people to make better decisions about how to draw up a budget, when to save or to ask for a loan, how to compare financial products and how to grow their businesses.

In this increasingly–digitalized world, Tuiio provides technology-based training, too. It teaches people how to open an email account, use an ATM, make card payments and download and use mobile apps such as Santander Móvil and Tuiio Móvil.

In May 2020, Tuiio transformed its methodology to adapt it to a fully-digital environment. It designed a financial education section for tuiio.com.mx, which has provided customers and non-customers with user-friendly calculators, an interactive course, audio stories, games and simulators, free of charge and in simple language.

Given the importance of financial education, we invite all customers to take Tuiio’s personal finance course before taking out or renewing a loan. The course provides basic knowledge on a range of subjects:

1. Components of financial health (savings, ability to pay, planning/organization, income/expenses and financial products).
2. Financial health/what you can achieve with it/financial health test. 
3. Budgeting and saving as part of it.
4. Petty expenses.
5. Savings targets.
6. Formal saving vs informal saving.
7. Debts and tips to avoid getting into debt.
8. What is my ability to pay?
   
   

Financial education for the young

At Tuiio we are aware of how important it is to share financial knowledge and culture with children. That is why our branches have tablets for children to discover the Finance for kids (Finanzas para peques) section while their parents are busy. There are also paints and games they can play while they wait.

Tuiio has developed games to teach financial concepts, as well as audio stories for children explaining where money comes from, what digital money is, where to save, what coronavirus is and why they cannot go to school.

Tuiio has a regular schedule of audio stories addressing topics which the children themselves have raised.

For more information, visit the Tuiio website.