BUILDING TRUSTWORTHY AND ACCESSIBLE PROTECTION INTO PERSONAL LOANS, AT SCALE, TO IMPROVE LIVES

With more than 1,800 integrated retail and banking stores and 9 million personal loans issued each year, the Mexican retailer Coppel serves a broad, often underserved, modest-income customer base across Mexico. Any embedded protection offer must therefore be both trustworthy for customers and robust enough to operate smoothly at very high volumes.

Javier Tagle Hernandez and Felipe Vila (respectively Corporate Director of Business Banking at BanCoppel and Head of Insurance at Coppel), and Olivier Calandreau, CEO, of BNP Paribas Cardif in Mexico explain how they co-developed an embedded creditor protection insurance (CPI) offer shaped by customer expectations of simplicity, transparency and support when something happens. They also share how delivering on that promise required a high-performing operating and technology backbone, validated through a pilot phase before being rolled out at scale.

Q1. What made CPI particularly necessary for your customers?

Javier Tagle Hernandez (Coppel): We are very close to our customers. They visit our stores every week. We serve hard-working families, often with diverse income streams that depend on day-to-day activity. When something unexpected happens, such as an illness, an accident, the loss of the household’s main provider, the impact is immediate. Our customers therefore need loan protection that is easy to understand, and in case of a claim, gives them confidence that they will be guided and supported.

Q2. Why is trust so central to Coppel?

Felipe Vila (Coppel): Coppel has built trust over decades. Customers rely on us because they know that if we offer a product, we will support them and not leave them on their own. Insurance is no different: they expect the same Coppel experience at every touchpoint, and they expect the promise to be fulfilled when it matters most.

Q3. How did you work together to design this offer?

Felipe Vila: We started with a genuine listening exercise including customer focus groups, benchmarking and in-depth customer analysis- BNP Paribas Cardif went on that journey with us. We then built the offer around customer needs. But the product is only the starting point: the real challenge is to deliver on the promise across the entire journey, including questions, complaints and claims, in a way that fits how customers actually interact with Coppel.

Olivier Calandreau (BNP Paribas Cardif in Mexico): Everything started with the customer and the loan. With modest and often irregular income – including many self-employed people – eligibility and coverage must avoid leaving parts of the customer base uncovered. That’s why we also designed benefits beyond covering the outstanding balance, because in this segment there is often no safety net if income suddenly stops.

Q4. What did co-creation mean in practice?

Olivier Calandreau: Co-creation only works if it responds to both customer and partner needs. Coppel’s “Mejora tu vida” (improve your life) motto reflects a broader ambition around financial inclusion that resonates closely with BNP Paribas Cardif’s mission. We believe protection can make that promise more tangible by preserving stability and peace of mind for families when life shocks occur.

Javier Tagle Hernandez: For us, co-creation starts with the partner. BNP Paribas Cardif has been working with us for a long time – they visit our stores, and they understand our customers. This was not an off-the-shelf offer. They went deeper to build something our customers can afford, with simplicity embedded throughout the process.

Q5. Where did you “go the extra mile” in the offer design?

Felipe Vila: Many CPI products are primarily designed to protect the lender. In this case, we designed a proposition that also delivers direct value to the customers, with life benefit paid to the families and coverage designed to help them “land on their feet” when hardship occurs.

Olivier Calandreau: We included income-disruption scenarios, with partial payments in cases of unemployment or temporary disability to secure the loan while also supporting the family. We also added complementary services during unemployment, such as discounts and mental health assistance, recognizing how challenging that period can be.

Q6. What did you have to build technically to make it work at Coppel’s scale?

Olivier Calandreau: BNP Paribas Cardif is upgrading its core IT capacities through a new digital program and Mexico is one the pioneers in the LATAM region. With 9 million new personal loans issued each year, we needed a platform that is robust, fast, and secure, with tight system integration. API-based connectivity allows us to monitor activity daily, down to store level, and significantly improves risk monitoring.

Felipe Vila: The “magic” happens behind the scenes. Claims and services require deep data integration between Coppel and BNP Paribas Cardif. The way our system connects enables a better customer experience when it matters the most, with faster response times and smoother support.

Q7. What are the first signals from the pilot?

Felipe Vila: The pilot helped validate customer experience and identify process adjustments, as integration at this scale is complex. We are now preparing to expand the solution to more stores to continue testing the post-sales and, as claims volumes grow, to assess the claims journey more extensively. Early indicators are encouraging: there have been no complaints so far, and adoption by advisors – our first internal users – has been strong once they understood the proposition and how it supports their daily conversations with customers.

Q8. What comes next for the partnership?

Olivier Calandreau: This is only the beginning. The platform is modular, designed to accelerate the development of more products faster, with a strong focus on security and the protection of customer data as cyber risks continue to grow. We also plan to progressively extend coverage, moving from the initial retail scope to a broader perimeter, while continuing to enhance the customer journey.

Javier Tagle Hernandez: We expect the collaboration to further deepen. The BNP Paribas Cardif team is helping us better understand our clients and the most effective way to give them access to protection that truly fits their needs.

Felipe Vila: We have been partners for several years. But we are no longer just selling a product. We are building an experience around the customer journey – and that is how you build trust in insurance and long-term loyalty to the brand.