Why Bankaool’s Moisés Chaves Believes Financial Literacy Is Still the Best Consumer Protection

According to a We Forum study, only about 33% of adults worldwide are financially literate. Data published by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria notes that it’s a sticking problem in Mexico, where the financial literacy score has been 58/100 since 2018.

As of 2024, only 6% of adults in the country said they’d spent time on education about budgets, savings or responsible credit use. Less than a quarter said they kept a budget.

In this environment, Moisés Chaves, the chairman of Bankaool, says investing in financial literacy is the best way to protect and serve consumers. Judging by the strategy he’s using to grow Bankaool, Chaves also seems to think it’s a good way to create a successful business in the financial sector.

Chaves is known for championing a multi-prong approach to banking, tech and customer service. “The most interesting opportunities exist at the intersections between industries,” he says. “That’s where you find needs that aren’t being well served because everyone is too focused on their own sector. If you’re willing to work across boundaries, you can create value that specialists in any single industry can’t match.” 

Here’s why Chaves says investing in financial literacy as part of one of those prongs is important. 

Predatory Financial Products Create Vicious Cycles

Financial literacy can be shaped or undermined by the products and practices that financial institutions provide to consumers. When those products are designed around transaction rather than relationship, they can erode the trust and confidence that’s foundational to financial literacy. 

Chaves has been direct about where he sees the industry falling short.  “Charging for withdrawals is an abuse,” he said on X. “We decided to eliminate it at any ATM, on any network, from any institution.” 

Consumers who feel penalized for basic transactions are less likely to engage with formal banking. They’re also less likely to build saving habits or develop the kind of financial confidence that comes from positive, predictable interactions with their bank. 

The stakes increase when you look at credit. Chaves spoke with El Economista at the Convención Bankaria in 2025, saying, “Today the sector has a lot of access to credit, but credit that impoverishes you—ruinous credit, very high rates or terms not designed for the different types of industries among small businesses.”

When financial institutions provide credit that’s not designed around a borrower’s ability to repay, they don’t do consumers any favors. And ignoring financial literacy while providing such products builds debt instead of long-term relationships. 

In an interview with MILENIO, Chaves said that Bankaool focuses on customer experience and creating value for everyone. Yes, the bank wants healthy profitability, says Chaves, but not via predatory practices or fees hidden in the fine print. When customers understand what they’re paying for and why, they’re better positioned to make good financial decisions, which is good for them and for the bank. 

Trust Is Foundational for Banking Relationships

One consequence of predatory financial products is that they keep consumers using cash, especially in underbanked regions in Mexico. When banking feels expensive or vague, cash becomes a tradition that feels safer. That security is hard to displace.

Chaves and his team are working to close the gap through digital tools that make banking more accessible and less intimidating. “If we do our job well with the app, no one will have to enter the branches, but we do not want to lose that capacity, and we want roots in all areas,” Chaves said.  

That commitment to physical presence is a trust decision as much as a logistical one. For consumers who’ve learned to be skeptical of financial institutions, a branch in their community helps signal that the bank is there to serve them long-term.

It also reflects how Chaves sees the broader role of financial services. “Industries are just categories,” says Chaves. “Banking, pharma distribution, grocery—at the end of the day, you’re serving customers with recurring needs. If you can serve them better by combining services, why wouldn’t you?”

Serving Essential Needs Responsibly Supports Healthy Businesses and Consumers

Chaves is known for thinking across industries and service categories, but his approach starts with getting the fundamentals right. “We’re not trying to be everything to everyone,” Chaves says. “We’re focused on essential services—banking, healthcare, food. If we can serve those better through one integrated platform, we create value for customers while building a defensible business.”

When essential services are delivered transparently and without friction, consumers learn what good financial interactions feel like. They feel more equipped to engage in increasingly complex transactions and take charge of their accounts. 

For Chaves, customer protection is literally part of the bottom line. “We firmly believe that our customers deserve a frictionless, stress-free banking experience without hidden clauses. Any profits we generate must come from offering solutions that create value for their money,” he told En Concreto Multimedia. 

A Bank Can’t Be Successful Without a Financially Literate Customer Base

“If the customer is doing well, they will always be interested in the bank,” Chaves told El Financiero. “It’s about empowering them, not draining them with fees, and I’m not saying that banks didn’t initially think that way, but by not transforming themselves, we are losing the opportunity to further strengthen the financial system and include more users. That’s why we are in this vicious cycle and the use of cash continues to prevail.”

The inverse is also true. Banks that extract value from customers rather than creating it for them don’t build relationships. They create churn, distrust and cash preference that keeps millions of Mexican adults outside the formal financial system. 

Chaves’s answer is to orient the entire institution around a different starting point. “Unlike other banks, which have traditionally focused on their products, we decided to focus on people, on eliminating friction when withdrawing money, when sending it, or when using credit responsibly,’  he says. 

Financial literacy, then, is the natural outcome of banking that actually works for the people using it.