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Harry Sacal, CEO of Pluscorp

MEXICO - Finance

Harry Sacal

CEO, Pluscorp

Bio

Harry Sacal is an experienced entrepreneur in the finance industry, having founded PlusCorp over 25 years ago, a SOFOM specialized in credit and leasing. He has also overtaken high-level volunteer roles such as Administrative Director of the Memory and Tolerance Museum in Mexico City, which focuses on the consequences of indifference and discrimination through historical memory.

TBY talks to Harry Sacal, CEO of Pluscorp, about a changing portfolio, credit guidelines, and expected trends for the coming year.

Harry Sacal

What investments has Pluscorp made toward transforming its portfolio?

Pluscorp made some incredible changes during the pandemic based on what we learned then and then post-pandemic. Another thing we learnt was to achieve more concrete goals and greater growth and professionalism. The pandemic taught us that the financial sector is a prime and important industry in the world. What helped us survive this pandemic was government support, plus support from the financial sector. In addition, we were able to cope with the crisis by being on the side of our clients and with the support of our founders to obtain sufficient liquidity. Our growth doubled during the pandemic as we were more present with our customers. We made many incursion into markets that had contracted in financing, and as a result we managed to achieve more than double-digit growth steadily over the past two years. We focused on the main sectors of the market such as logistics, healthcare, services, and so on. On top of this, we as an institution made the decision to capitalize the business even more because it was required, given the strong growth we were experiencing. When we decided to put in more capital and more strength along with the institutional decisions we made, we were able to expand our facilities. We were able to set up our own IT department and used fintech technologies, technological platforms, and tools to make our company more efficient. We managed to create platforms that gave us the success we are seeing right now. We created a product called FastPlus that allows a person to enter their basic information, and in 10 minutes through a due diligence and rating algorithm that we developed internally, they will know if they can take out a loan or what loans can be granted.

What kind of credit do you grant?

Our business credits are already set. Right now, with FastPlus, our main product provides credit of between MXN200,000 and MXN2 million. It is focused on SMEs. Plus’ success, unlike other platforms, is that we are the only platform that can provide simple credit as well as a pure lease. Those two products are doing well, and our portfolio will grow further. The great thing is that we are able to enter into markets in the provinces that were previously not within our reach. We have branches in Guadalajara, El Bajío, and we are about to open in the southeast. Our technological platform allows us to reach all regions of the country.

What next steps is the company taking?

Right now, we are focused on growth and incursion and the creation of a franchise. Being a public company with excellent ratings, a good credit history, and extensive portfolio, the next step is to develop a franchise. Although it also pains me to say it, we are far and above our competitors, which went into crisis after the pandemic. Our great corporate government gave us a more clearer approach to decision-making. In truth, every company was negatively affected, but in the last year, we have improved on all our ratings by two notches. We have gone from negative predictions to positive expectations. Right now, we are experiencing organic growth with our sales capacity.

Do you plan on growing in Latin America or entering another country?

We do not really know the Latin American market that well. Furthermore, Mexico is a large market. We do not work with small loans, and we do not do consumer loans; we focus on business loans. There are almost 10 million SMEs in Mexico, and I do not think Latin America or Central America even have 500,000. There is still much of the Mexican market left to target.

What do you expect will be the main trends in the coming year?

The world is now developing rapidly after being forced to come to a standstill for two years. That is causing inflation currently, and as a result prices continue to rise everywhere. However, in the next two years the situations will begin to normalize, with incredible changes. Now, we are working hard to become a sustainable and supportive company. We have an important inclusion program in the institution, where our corporate government and management has zero discrimination, and there is complete inclusion. The companies that will succeed in the future are those that are well prepared. We are also preparing ourselves to be certified. In 2022, the company also will receive positive ratings from Tolerancia Activa.

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