Xavier Faz

Lead, Financial Services for Equality and Growth

Xavier Faz is the lead for CGAP’s work on technology and business models in digital finance. His area of work includes emerging technologies, fintech and digital banking, as well as open platforms. He is also CGAP’s Regional Head for Latin America & the Caribbean.

Prior to CGAP, Xavier was VP of Strategic Planning for a development bank in Mexico, where he helped launch a line of services offering low cost banking infrastructure and payments to microfinance and nonbank financial institutions in that market. He also worked with McKinsey & Company in Mexico and Central America, supporting large organizations in banking, retail and consumer goods, in leveraging emerging technologies to launch new base-of-the-pyramid businesses. Before that, Xavier was a Systems Engineer at several startups in Mexico and Silicon Valley, as well as Field Engineer for Schlumberger in North Africa.

Xavier has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and an Engineering degree in Electronic Systems from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, México.

By Xavier Faz

Blog

Lessons from the 2014 CGAP Annual Meeting in Peru

Every year, CGAP’s Council of Governors (CG) brings together more than 30 international organizations committed to global financial inclusion. This year’s CG Meeting took place in Urubamba, a small community in the outskirts of Cusco, in Peru.
Blog

Vivid Profiles of Mobile Account Users in Rural Mexico

Nearly 30 million Mexicans live in rural communities and lack basic infrastructure. As Telecomm brings basic mobile banking services to rural communities, we hear how users benefit from using these accounts in their daily lives.
Blog

Mexico’s Tiered KYC: An Update on Market Response

In August 2011 Mexico approved a tiered scheme for opening deposit accounts at credit institutions. The innovation is that it incorporates several “levels” of simplified accounts – requirements increase progressively as restrictions on transactions and channels are eased.
Blog

A New Wave of E-Money in Latin America

In Latin America, the banking sector is highly rooted in the economy, and to think about non-bank issued electronic money is almost heretic. But things are changing.
Blog

Consumer Lending and Financial Inclusion in Latin America

Regulators in Latin America are starting to build regional consensus and sharing successful policies across markets on consumer lending.