Which are the provinces that received the most credit in 2022 according to the inclusion map?

2022 was a year of growth in the volume of credit, the number of bank service points, as well as bank transactions in the main provinces of the country. The province of Guayas was an example of this growth since it is, on the one hand, the province that received the most credit in 2022. The number of new loans in Guayas reaches $11,421 million, a little less than a million above Pichincha that received $10,599 million. In the case of Guayas, the number of loans represents a growth of 16.78% compared to 2021, while what was received by Pichincha, is also 8.81% more than 2021.

In addition to credit Guayas grew by 30.19% in the number of customer service points (comparing January November 2022 with the same period in 2021).These points are agencies, non-banking agents and ATMs. Currently in Guayas there are 11,980 service points, a figure also above Pichincha, a province in which 10,414 points were registered.

These are some figures published by the Financial Inclusion Map that has just been presented by the Association of Private Banks of Ecuador (Asobanca) and that reveals access to credit by territory, as well as the use of services.

But in addition, in this report, one can also see a significant growth in Guayas in the number of physical transactions that are also carried out in branches, ATMs, non-banking correspondents, etc.

These data, which come from the Superintendency of Banks, reveal that between January and November 2022, 1,532 million bank transactions were carried out throughout Ecuador. Although Pichincha is the province where banking services are used the most with 697 million transactions, the figure reflects an increase of 37% over the same period in 2021. However, Guayas, with 588 million transactions, had an annual growth of 100% in this type of physical transactions.

According to Marco Rodríguez, executive president of Asobanca, in Guayas the number of transactions increased due to the greater use in the consumption of credit and debit cards. Only in this type of transaction, Guayas went from 44 million transactions between January and November 2021 to 262 million in the same period of 2022, an increase of 217 million transactions (491%). “Guayas shows that the use of banking services can increase by using a greater variety of these, as is the case with credit and debit cards,” says Rodríguez.

Another reason is the increase in the use of channels related to credit and debit card services, such as POS (electronic devices that allow card payments), which between January and November 2022 grew by 161% compared to the same period. from 2021; They are followed by branches with 121%, and then ATMs, with 63%. Likewise, the number of transactions increased throughout the country between January and November 2022, leveraged by the increased use of banking channels.

But what is the position of the other provinces in terms of credit, service points and transactions?

In the ranking it is located as the third province that received the most credit, Azuay with $1,764 million of new credits in 2022. This is 9.01% more than in 2021. Manabí received $1,336 million, but this meant a growth of 17 .83% compared to 2021. Meanwhile, Gold reached $846 million, 9.40% more than last year.

As soon as to the number of service points, the ranking It changes because Manabí is the third province with the most points of this type, with 3,839 (32.42% more than last year). Additionally, in number of transactions it also turns out to be the third province of the ranking having 37.4 million, 18.25% more than last year. while Santo Domingo had 2,200 points, which is 46.5% more than in 2021. In this province, 17.8 million physical transactions were registered, which represents a growth of 12.99%. In fifth place is El Oro, with 2,106 points and 26.8 million transactions, representing a growth of 7.47%.

It is also worth looking at what happens with provinces that are not in the first places of the rankingbut they have had an interesting development process. The province of Zamora Chinchipe had new loans for $58.4 million, this is an increase of 34.95%. In this province there are already 246 service points, which is 21.18% more than in 2021, and physical transactions have been made for 14.53%.

Meanwhile, in succumb, Credit grew 30.05%, reaching $83.6 million in 2022. Attention points, meanwhile, also grew significantly, reaching 617 points, which is 26.45% more than in 2021. physical transactions did fall as 5.8 million physical transactions were registered, that is, 4.74% less than last year.

Although the amounts of credits delivered are important, these days it is debated how many hands said credit reaches. According to experts and Asobanca’s own authorities, more and more credit volume is delivered, but in few hands. The fee structure is a factor in making this happen. In any case, Ecuador is creating a financial inclusion strategy to find solutions to these problems. (YO)