A virtual community of more than 13 thousand members dedicated to the empowerment of this sector, will put into circulation a plastic that will offer multiple benefits and promotions
PrideMx is a digital community that since 2022 was founded in Mexico with the purpose of being a safe meeting point for members of the LGBT+ community in the country.
According to Luis Villavicencio, founder and director of this platform, its purpose is to bring its users closer to a series of goods and services that help them to be better people, to have a better quality of life and even to do business.
As part of these initiatives, the platform recently announced the launch of an exclusive credit card for the community and its allies, to empower its members, as well as businesses and supporters of this cause.
“We are always looking at how we can generate things that are interesting for the community, from the idea of creating a safe space where the main drivers of the community is do business, learn and make friends, in what we call a supportive community; One of the things they asked us for was a job market, so we created a space where companies could place their positions at no cost… So, what we are trying to generate is what the community needs”, says Luis.
“One of the elements that we found is that we needed to promote this sense of identity, to be more and more proud of who we are and not only celebrate in June, but to generate a circular economy where you could support businesses that own or that they are promoted by someone from the LGBT+ community, or allies, then the card served as the fundamental element to be able to contemplate it”.
Currently, PrideMx is working on the process of generating the legal financial structure to be able to offer this service. The card will be in circulation between May and June 2023 and although the idea is to reach the entire country with this product, they will begin in cities such as Guadalajara, Mexico City and the Metropolitan area, Monterrey and Vallarta.
The card and its benefits
Luis Villavicencio anticipates that PrideMx credit cards will be completely customizable, according to the preference or gender identity of each user:
“We’re starting to play around what people would like the card to express or say, so we’ve had mixed feedback from wanting a black card with a little LGBT+ flag, but also people wanting a completely celebratory card. with the rainbow on the entire front, so the user will have the possibility to choose the card that is closest to their lifestyle, since not all people are necessarily at the same stage when it comes to recognizing their own person or before others, then the card should reflect that as well.
Regarding how credit will be granted to people, the process will be like how it works with conventional credit cards, that is, each subject must go through a prior approval period:
“Logically, not all users have the same credit capacity, we have thought that the amounts go from 5 to 50 thousand pesos, although there will be users who exceed that figure due to their purchasing power, but the project will evolve as the user and their behavior allow us to define the rules, we want to create a healthy financial product that is sustainable over time to achieve the greatest possible social impact”.
According to Luis, today the LGBT+ population in Mexico is close to 13 million people based on the last INEGI census, of which 50 percent is an economically active population.
Likewise, it highlights that the PrideMx card will have different promotions and benefits related to different firms, among which the Cinépolis chain is already confirmed, and anticipates that they are already in talks with some airlines and with convenience stores that will be able to join thanks to its inclusion and diversity policies.
We needed to generate a circular economy where we could support businesses that are owned, allied or promoted by someone from the community.
Luis Villavicencio, founder of Pridemx
A growing community
Luis Villavicencio, who is originally from Morelia, Michoacán, remembers that ever since he moved to Mexico City, he was looking for a non-sexual space in which he could function safely and meet people with similar affinities, and that is what became PrideMx, the community he founded nearly one year:
“The launch was in May 2022, and today we already have more than 13,000 members, because we have an increase of between 70 and 80 users a day, who want to be part of all this and are signing up to the community.”
According to a statement from the platform itself, it began operations with the purpose of allowing interaction between its members, providing tools that strengthen communication channels with a focus on inclusion, social awareness, recreation, and even triggering work and business opportunities, since users have a job bank, promotions and benefits by both members of the LGBT+ community and its allies.
Diana Espinosa, who is the executive director of the platform, adds: “Our mission is to connect the LGBT+ community, providing a space to interact, spread culture, generate knowledge, do business, support the community and people in a safe way”.
In this sense, Alberto Lara R., who is a PrideMx user, assures: “Before, I only used it to read reviews of the shows, plan my weekend activities and use the community discounts. However, I saw the opportunity to make myself known as a personal trainer and now I also promote myself in the Entrepreneurs section”.
“Something important, he highlights, is that you do not need to be a member of the LGBT+ community to participate, you can be an ally, because here there is no restriction to be part of the work team or the digital community, all you need is to respect the rules , because we have a decalogue where there is no violence and where all ways of thinking must be respected”.
Thus, Luis is confident of the echo that this initiative will have, even before seeing it on the street:
“It is increasingly evident that people in the community prefer products or services that support their identity, and this is one of them,” he points out.
Source: El Sol de Mexico
