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📈 Banking Concentration
Which countries have competitive banking landscapes?
Latinometrics
June 09, 2025 • Reading Time: 2 minutes
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Last week, we looked into the revenue models driving Mexico's banks. As we mentioned, Mexico's five largest banks control two-thirds of all national banking assets.
Yet, by Latin-American standards, Mexico’s banking concentration is mild; only Argentina and Panama display more competitive asset shares.
A key reason smaller institutions are staying in the race in Mexico is their hold on cross-border money—an area the five-bank metric doesn’t fully capture. Remittances into Mexico hit $65B last year, surpassing total foreign direct investment. Fintechs such as Bitso, Spin by OXXO, and Félix have tapped this stream, turning migrant dollars into sticky, low-cost assets.
Panama leads Latin America in banking competitiveness
Before we look at how consolidation has shifted over time, it’s worth examining Panama’s banking scenario.
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