Yucatan’s first Banco del Bienestar opens Saturday in Sucilá with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The bank, created by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will issue credit and disperse resources from federal relief programs while promoting and facilitating personal savings accounts.
This is a big deal for the rural town, about 90 miles northeast of Merida and with a population of roughly 4,000. The branch will include two tellers, an ATM and a bank manager.
Lopez Obrador has promised 2,700 Banco del Bienestar branches to distribute funds to recipients in remote communities where there are no banks or cash machines nearby.
“It will allow residents to obtain loans to work with low rates, which will allow faster and more prosperous development,” said Sucilá Mayor Diego Lugo Interian in an interview with Peninsular Punto Medio.
Historically, neighborhood pawn shops have been a primary source of quick cash — and at terms 10 times less favorable, he said.
“This is a trigger for the region,” said Lugo Interian.
Sucilá is also one of three Yucatecan municipalities that will have a new medical health unit, expected to be completed by Dec. 31.
