Businesses see in the thirteenth salary an option to attract clients in December

Surely these days announcements and messages have arrived in your email inbox or on your cell phone proposing options on what to do with your thirteenth remuneration.

Banking institutions that offer you to open an account to save it, companies that offer programmed savings plans, credit cards that suggest making advances, stores that invite you to take advantage of discounts for Christmas purchases, are some of the trends of the date close to the payment of this benefit.

“Make your tenth grow and meet your goals”, is the title of one of these emails. This one in particular comes from the Banco Bolivariano that advises to open an account to save the tenth.

But what is it and until when is this benefit paid?

This is an additional bonus, which was introduced in 1962 and corresponds to one twelfth of the wages received by the worker between December 1 of last year and November 30 of this year and according to article 111 of the Labor Code , must be paid until December 24th.

How to calculate what you will receive in the thirteenth salary

In 2020, in the public sector and universities, for example, 474,209 servers received this remuneration. 359,484 cumulative servers and 114,725 employees received it monthly.

Regarding private sector employees, according to the Ministry of Labor, according to the records made by employers in the Online Salary System, the payment of 1,519,260 workers was registered under the Labor Code regime in 2020 .

EL UNIVERSO newspaper consulted experts on how the thirteenth remuneration should be administered. Some promoted the services of their companies.

Francisco Vélez, general manager of the fund manager FuturFid, recommended that this additional income to the annual budget should be used for the payment of a debt that has a very high interest, but also to initiate a savings commitment that can serve as a provision for future expenses, savings for a plan or later goal, which also generate financial performance.

Vélez assured that the 78 % of respondents in a market research firm study Ipsos considers that, after the pandemic, saving became something important for his life and that of his family.

He added that according to data from National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), in Ecuador, almost 60 % of households are able to save, but this is not reflected in the statistics, he said.

“International economic analyzes have shown that the pandemic generated a lot of awareness about the importance of maintaining savings for times of emergency or possible unexpected expenses,” said Vélez, who exposes the benefits of Planifica, a app to save money and invest, as a way to schedule tuition fees, a house entry, a family trip, and even an alternate retirement.

Vélez explained that this fund requires a minimum initial contribution of $ 100, with a base term of one year, and then continues with monthly assignments from $ 10, with direct debit from the bank account or card of the registered holder.

“All of this can be easily managed from the app mobile phone or a computer, where the user can also monitor the investment growth on a daily basis, guaranteeing the transparency of the virtual program ”, explained the FuturFid manager.

For Elena Arévalo, manager-owner of B&A Business and Services, the emergency of COVID-19 did not increase the culture of saving in Ecuadorians, but rather gave more emphasis to priorities, that is, not to borrow so much, or to be more prudent when spending is what has been achieved .

“The culture of savings is something that is achieved with financial education, and in our environment there is not much. Very few Ecuadorians teach their children how to manage money, “lamented the expert in personal finance, who agreed with Vélez in pointing out that if there are debts, a correct way to use the tenth would be to pay those that generate a lot of interest, such as the credit cards.

“Another way would be to pay in advance for an expense that generates a deficit in your monthly budget, and if your budget is positive, you could buy something that you need urgently and that really improves your lifestyle or that generates income,” recommended Arévalo .

For its part, Francisco Nazati, Head of Personal Banking at Banco ProCredit, advised to allocate, at least, 10% of this additional income, to an emergency or savings fund.

This, according to Nazati, will depend on the possibilities and economic condition of each person or family.

How to take advantage of the thirteenth salary of December?

“In general terms, we always recommend strengthening the habit of saving, establishing a fixed monthly amount, but in the particular case of the thirteenth salary, if it is within our possibilities to save a higher percentage than we usually save, much better,” said the executive, who added that ProCredit offers the FlexSave Savings Plan.

Nazati explained that the client establishes the total savings goal and the time they want to save, selecting the day of the month in which the money is transferred from the account to the savings fund.

“The client has total autonomy in managing money with the option of withdrawing, increasing, modifying or canceling the savings plan, without any penalty,” Nazati explained.

The commercial sector also reacts to this additional income, according to economic analyst Jorge Calderón, who assured that the thirteenth drives sales this month.

“It is something expected by businesses because it injects them with liquidity, many businesses make offers and promotions because they seek to capture part of that tenth, because December is a month that allows them to offset the sales of the year,” said the expert, who recommends, however , do not spend everything and be measured and if possible, taking into account the purchasing power and debt, cover a debt or credit.

However, if you are going to spend it all, Calderón suggested planning, establishing criteria and amounts.

More tips for using your thirteenth salary

Francisco Nazati, head of Personal Banking at Banco ProCredit, made more recommendations:

• Do not turn it into pocket money, and rather use it for a fixed objective or keep it until you decide what to invest in.
• Look for investments in the medium or long term that bring retribution of some kind (not necessarily economic) for the person.
• Find financial systems with good investment rates. In our country they can offer interest rates of around 6%. If the bank’s offer is higher than this percentage, the client is recommended to review the risk rating of said entity. (I)