Grupo Popular
“Can the Dominican Republic's largest traditional financial group successfully build a parallel digital-native banking franchise (Qik) to capture the next generation of consumers without cannibalizing its core branch-based business?”
Grupo Popular is the principal financial group in the Dominican Republic, operating primarily through Banco Popular Dominicano. In 2022, the group made a deliberate push toward digital banking by launching Qik Banco Digital Dominicano — the country's first neobank — built in partnership with i2c's card issuing and digital banking infrastructure, offering branchless mobile banking with physical and virtual Mastercards. This represents a strategic pivot from a traditional branch-based banking model to a hybrid digital-first posture, targeting next-generation consumers who may be underserved by legacy branch networks.