Finlab (GENTERA) / NEW FINANCIAL PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Fiinlab is the innovation incubator of Gentera, one of Mexico’s largest financial groups, recognised as a key driver of financial inclusion in the country. With a strong portfolio that includes microcredits, collective credits, and bank accounts, Gentera sought to expand its offerings to serve lower socio-economic segments better. The challenge was to understand how Mexican families in these groups managed their financial lives and saving strategies, and to use those insights to design inclusive, trust-building financial products and services.
(Strategic Innovation & Service Design)
Approach
Conducted ethnographic research with families in the D–D+ socio-economic segments to uncover saving behaviours and informal money management strategies.
Analysed financial pain points, trust barriers, and motivations to engage with formal institutions.
Designed new financial products and services specifically addressing trust, accessibility, and usability.
Prototyped physical and digital channels to support adoption and interaction with the new services.
Ensured solutions were desirable, viable, and feasible for both users and the business.
Impact
Designed new inclusive financial products to build trust and engagement with underserved families.
Created multi-channel interaction strategies (digital + physical) to improve adoption.
Strengthened Gentera’s position as the leading financial inclusion agent in Mexico.
Helped connect previously excluded communities with formal financial institutions.
Key activities
User Research & Insights: Fieldwork with families to map saving behaviours and financial strategies. Delivered an insight report detailing needs, barriers, and opportunities.
Opportunity Framing: Identified systemic issues limiting financial inclusion, with opportunity areas for product and service design.
Concept Development: Designed several new money-saving products tailored to the segment, via product/service concepts addressing trust and adoption challenges.
Channel Design: Defined physical and digital interaction points for accessibility. with prototypes of customer journeys and digital/physical channels.
Strategic Alignment: Integrated solutions into Gentera’s innovation and inclusion roadmap, short-to-mid-term innovation pipeline for financial inclusion.
Reflection
This project showed the importance of empathy-driven research in designing for financial inclusion. By deeply understanding household behaviours and trust dynamics, we were able to design solutions that not only met business goals but also created pathways for social impact and financial empowerment.
