Across Latin America, the race to build the region's first true super app is accelerating. According to a study from the Inter-American Development Bank and Finnovista, the total number of fintechs operating in Latin America increased 400% between 2017 and 2023. The expansion has upended traditional banking and raised the competitive stakes for every institution in the market.
For most players, the challenge is technological. Established banks are working to shed legacy systems while fintechs push into core banking territory. Both are discovering that building integrated digital platforms is harder than building a single product.
For Moises Chaves, the seasoned entrepreneur behind Bankaool's dramatic operational turnaround, the more important foundation is regulatory. He argues that compliance infrastructure isn't what slows super app development down; it's what makes it sustainable.
Who Is Chaves and What Is Bankaool?
Moises Chaves is a Costa Rican-born entrepreneur and founder of OMNi, an investment group with a focus on financial ecosystems and digital infrastructure across Latin America. Before arriving in Mexico, Chaves spent time in Singapore working with Grab, the Southeast Asian platform that grew from a ride-hailing app into one of the world's most cited super app success stories. That exposure to integrated digital platforms at scale shaped the vision he would later bring to Bankaool.
Bankaool is a regulated Mexican commercial bank supervised by the CNBV and Banco de México. When Chaves assumed leadership in 2023, the institution carried a D credit rating and had a workforce of roughly 300 employees. Chaves led a rapid operational overhaul that included technology modernization, a significant talent influx and strategic branch expansion.
Within two years, the bank had a BB+ credit rating and a team of more than 1,800 people. As Chaves has described it, the most important change was bringing the bank "to optimal growth points to be a strong competitor in the country's banking landscape." It's a foundation, he says, that had to be built before anything larger could be attempted.
Why Chaves Sees Super App Development as an Important Fintech Frontier
Mexico sits at the center of one of the most significant digital financial transformations in the world. Chaves has been direct about why he sees the country as the right place to build from, describing it as a system in transition with an immense opportunity for growth and greater financial inclusion and as the key launchpad for expansion across the rest of Latin America.
The data supports Chaves's assessment.
The unbanked population represents a massive addressable market
According to the World Economic Forum, 70% of adults in Latin America are considered unbanked or underbanked. Less than a third have access to formal financial institutions.
Andrés Fontão, the CEO of Finnosummit, previously told Global Finance that around 66 million adults in Mexico are unbanked. These figures demonstrate an urgent need for viable banking products and a significant growth opportunity for integrated digital platforms.
Digital payments are already reshaping consumer behavior
Digital payment methods, including mobile wallets, QR code payments and real-time systems like Mexico's SPEI, now account for 60% of all consumer spending across Latin America, according to the WEF. The infrastructure for digital financial services is maturing rapidly, creating conditions where a super app can operate at scale.
Tech Adoption in Mexico is ready to support consumer-based fintech use
As of early 2025, Mexico had 110 million internet users, representing an 83.3% penetration rate, according to DataReportal. By the end of 2025, the country had 127 million cellular mobile connections.
These figures demonstrate widespread multi-device use and a digital infrastructure increasingly capable of supporting data-intensive services at scale.
The super app market in Mexico is poised for robust growth
The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 27.8% through 2030, driven by rapid advancements in digital technology and the widespread adoption of smartphones and integrated digital services.
Through OMNi, Chaves has committed $200 million to develop the technology platform that will serve as the foundation of a super app ecosystem, a figure that signals infrastructure-driven thinking rather than speculative product development. With Bankaool as the financial backbone, and OMNi's acquisitions of Marzam and Jüsto extending the platform into pharmaceutical distribution and grocery delivery, the pieces of that ecosystem are already taking shape.
How Regulatory Requirements Challenge Super App Development
Building a super app is as much a regulatory challenge as a technological one.
Operating across sectors like banking, healthcare distribution and grocery delivery means navigating multiple compliance frameworks simultaneously.
Specific regulatory challenges include:
- The heavy burden associated with the financial industry. Banks operating in Mexico are supervised by the CNBV and Banco de México and must meet ongoing requirements around capital adequacy, anti-money laundering, consumer protection and data localization. Apps can't simply clear each hurdle once; developers must create continuous compliance infrastructure.
- Additional sectors add layers of complexity. The core promise of a super app is convenience through consolidation. Bringing more services under a single platform creates a seamless user experience, but every sector added to the platform carries its own regulatory burden. The broader the ecosystem, the more complex the compliance picture becomes.
- Mexico's fintech regulatory environment, while progressive, is still maturing. Mexico's 2018 Fintech Law was among the first of its kind in the region, but operating at the intersection of banking and technology continues to require careful navigation as regulations evolve alongside the market.
Why Regulatory Requirements Are a Boon
The same regulatory complexity that challenges super app development also creates a significant competitive advantage for builders who get it right.
For Chaves, starting from a licensed, regulated bank rather than a consumer tech platform inverts the typical risk profile of super app development. Bankaool's standing as a supervised institution, with deposits protected by IPAB and operations overseen by the CNBV and Banco de México, provides a trust foundation that technology-first platforms cannot easily acquire.
As Chaves has put it, the goal is not to be everything to everyone, but to serve essential needs, like banking, healthcare and food, through one integrated platform that works better than separate providers can. Regulation, in that context, is a supportive foundation rather than an obstacle.
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