Santander Mexico Launches Ambitious Plan to Add 40,000 SME Clients

The bank will use government-backed NAFIN guarantees plus a digital acceleration program to lower borrowing costs and broaden formal credit access for small businesses.

Overview

This week Santander announced Reto Santander Pyme 2026 and set targets to add 40,000 new SME clients, originate about 16,000 additional loans and place 36,000 million pesos of new credit for the remainder of the year.
The bank said its current SME book totals 57.2 billion pesos across roughly 442,000 clients, a 6.2% year-on-year rise to June, and it expects loan demand to grow as interest rates fall.
Santander plans to support roughly 35% of the expanded SME portfolio with NAFIN guarantees to lower effective rates, raise loan sizes and onboard firms that previously could not qualify.
Product goals include an average loan around 1.5 million pesos, average terms near 18 months and a shift in mix to raise revolvable credit lines from 20% to about 30%, while Reto Santander Pyme/University will offer 1.6 million pesos in seed capital plus mentorship.
If executed, the push could speed formalization and digital adoption among Mexican small firms and help reach the Plan México goal that 30% of SMEs have formal financing by 2030 given that roughly 28% have bank credit today.