Credit cards: municipal savings banks would charge interest rates of 36%

To date, only ten banks and three finance companies are authorized to issue credit cards, whose rates range from 86.48% to 141.9% (see infographic), according to a report from the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS).

In this context, from the Congress They are looking for municipal savings banks to enter the competition for this financial product. An opinion was approved last week in the Consumer Defense Commission, and it will also be evaluated by the Economy Commission, for subsequent debate in the plenary session.

In this regard, the president of the Peruvian Federation of Municipal Savings and Credit Banks (FEPCMAC), indicated that these microfinance entities could offer interest rates of 36% to 40% on average.

“More or less the idea was that it should be at 3% per month, which is 36%, up to 40% in the best of cases,” explained Ruiz Caro, who argued that municipal savings banks could offer these rates of interest in your greater experience in risk management.

“We believe that we can have better rates because we have more refined the issue of risk management. We are used to working with SMEs and consumer loans for whom we do a much more rigorous risk assessment than another entity that issues credit cards ”, he pointed out.

For the representative of the municipal savings banks, this initiative will allow to decentralize this product that currently only reaches the main cities of the regions, and will promote financial inclusion and greater competition in the sector.

Role of the SBS

Although various specialists agree that this measure will allow greater competition, the main point in question in the opinion approved by the Consumer Defense Commission is that it provides that prior authorization from the SBS is not required to issue credit cards.

Jorge Delgado, president of the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Peru (Asomif), emphasized that the SBS necessarily has to verify that the entity complies with the prerequisites regarding risks, connectivity, procedures, among others. “We are all subject to regulation, and if an institution complies with the procedures, authorization will be given, but it cannot be a general authorized measure. They are interfering with the performance of the SBS that regulates and approves ”, he said.

For his part, Ruiz Caro agreed to respect the role of the SBS, but asked for greater facilities.

Other products to offer

The opinion approved in committee of the Congress of the republic seeks that the boxes have almost all the operations that banks have. For example, this also includes demand accounts and cashier’s checks.

“Demand accounts are like checking accounts, which due to the increased use of the internet are no longer used as much. But it is a product that legal entities require. And the management checks too ”, explained the president of FEPCMAC, Fernando Ruiz Caro.