When Uber launched in Mexico 13 years ago, it ran into an unexpected problem.
Plenty of people had smartphones to download the app, but few would pay with a bank card: they either didn’t have one or didn’t want to use it.
Within a few years, the ride-hailing giant rolled out a cash option, and that’s still how more than half of its riders in the country pay.
That statistic reflects a broader pattern: in Mexico, a surge in the variety of financial products on offer has been met with a stubborn reliance on banknotes and coins. ...