Starting in February, the Simple Fee program will be applied, replacing Now 12. However, the Commerce sector admits that users use credit cards more and more for food and medicine. The plan has a greater impact on 3 and 6 installments.
The Government announced the launch of Cuota Simple, the program that will offer financing for 3 and 6 fixed installments at differential rates. During 2023, 80% of purchases were made under these two plans. The initiative comes in a context of concentration of credit cards in essential purchases and growth in debt of informal workers with fintech.
The modality will be the same as the soon to be eliminated Now 12: consumers will be able to make their purchases in installments within a universe that covers 30 categories of nationally manufactured products, which can be accessed with an Annual Nominal Rate (TNA) that represents 85% of the Central Bank’s fixed term (110% TNA). Cuota Simple will have a first stage, which will be valid until May 31, 2024. Like the previous scheme, it will have national scope and will be available every day of the week, both in physical and virtual stores. The logo consists of a hand holding a card to remind the consumer to request the Posnet when making a payment, and not to hand over the card in the store or restaurant to avoid copies of personal data.
Simple installment: there will be 3 and 6 installments
The Ministry of Internal Trade presented the program to the commercial chambers, focusing on one piece of information: 3 and 6 installments are the most chosen financing options for consumers, since they represent 80% of total transactions. The items with the greatest participation were clothing, small appliances and white goods. However, the deterioration of purchasing power outlines a more selective purchasing criterion for the consumer. “We see that already in the first two weeks of the month, everyday life takes away the money: paying the rent, the card and the services,” he warns. Fabian Castillopresident of the Federation of Commerce and Industry of the City (FECOBA).
The situation raised leads the head of the entity to reflect on the following: “People need the card more and more for more basic consumption,” such as supermarkets and medicines. In turn, he points out that the drop in financing for household appliances and particularly cell phones was pronounced due to the difficulty of merchants in maintaining fixed installments without interest, due to the effect of inflation. The same points out Ruben Sajem, director of the Center of Argentine Pharmaceutical Professionals (CEPROFAR). The use of credit cards in their sector “grew a lot, especially in the last two months”, after the 90% increase in medicines in the same period. As a consequence of the increases, he warns of a 19% drop in the purchase of medicines, partly also due to the price distortion between a generic and a brand name, which can cost between “three or four times more.” “It is no longer enough to buy with debit or return, and many patients need to pay for chronic treatments,” details the specialist.
For Castillo, the rise in prices and the deterioration of salaries resulted in 3 million plastics being discarded – the latest data corresponding to July 2023 -. “Many consumers prefer to eliminate the credit card for fear of not being able to afford the minimum payment and falling out of the system,” explains the FECOBA representative. One of the fundamental changes to the DNU applied by the ruling party is the one that replaces article 18 of Law 25,065 (on Credit Cards) on punitive interest, which is applied when the client stops paying his debt with the bank and does not You don’t even pay the “minimum payment” before the due date. Prior to the regulations, they could not exceed those applied by each financial institution by 50%. “Credit capacity is decreasing,” he points out. After the meeting with Commerce officials, FECOBA will begin to outline meetings with representatives of various commercial sectors with the national Ministers to be able to present a state of the situation, sector by sector.
The panorama is recognized by two banks consulted by Ambit. The BCRA itself announced the 17% monthly drop in financing with Credit cards. One entity even noted that due to the difference between the price of the blue and the card dollar, tourists abroad do not show any incentive to use plastic either. He also noted that there are few bank promotions available on the Atlantic coast, in places such as spas or restaurants.
As a counterpart, the increase in credits through entities such as fintech is recorded. According to the sector chamber itself, in 2023, more than 5 million people had a current loan with an entity in the sector, of which 41% had never taken formal credit and 59% did not have a blank job. Furthermore, in 36% of these cases, they were people with no credit history, that is, individuals who had never before accessed formal credit. The panorama of the popular neighborhoods is different, where the type of debt is daily and without guarantees, but in exchange for usurious rates and abusive conditions, according to the leader of the La Dignidad movement, Rafael Klejzer.
Source: Ambito
