Between July and October 2020, the number of people in El Salvador exploring mortgage options online increased by 18%, and the number of Costa Rican consumers looking to buy credit cards decreased by 60%.
CentralAmericaData's interactive platform Consumer Insights monitors in real time the changes in consumer habits in all markets in the region and in other Latin American countries, with fundamental information to understand their behavior, new trends and anticipate eventual changes in their purchase patterns.
At a regional level, nearly 16 million people are looking to purchase financial services online. Of this group of consumers, approximately 11% are exploring options for acquiring a credit card.
The interactive information system developed by CentralAmericaData, monitors in real time the changes in consumer habits in all markets of the region, with fundamental information to understand the new commercial environment that has emerged in an accelerated manner.
On February 14th and 15th, representatives of banks, international financial institutions and risk rating agencies will meet in Panama City to discuss issues related to the sector.
The event called "International Banking Congress for Regulators & Bankers," will be organized by the Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP) and seeks to address issues such as Basel III, prevention of money laundering, de-risking, new risks facing the industry, financial innovation-Fintech, cybersecurity, among others.
On October 12 and 13 representatives from the banking and financial sector will be gathering together in Panama City to discuss issues relating to regulation, business and investment.
The International Finance Summit is an event being organized by the Banking Association of Panama and will be held at the Hotel Trump Ocean Club Convention Center.
The microcredit portfolio in Latin America and the Caribbean is worth over $40 billion, is awarded by more than 1,000 institutions, and reaches more than 22 million customers.
From a statement issued by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
A new report documents significant expansion of microcredit in Latin America and the Caribbean
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador - Microcredit in Latin America and the Caribbean remains strong and continues its expansion of the last decade, experiencing an increase in their number of customers, a variety of institutions and a downward trend in interest rates according to new data released here today by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the IDB Group.
For the last four years the loan portfolio of the Salvadoran financial system has been growing at an average rate of 3.5%, below the 11% growth average in the rest of the region.
A report produced by the rating agency Moody's notes that growth in El Salvador's financial sector has been stagnant since 2010, as the total loan portfolio has not achieved growth rates above 3.5% per year.
Central American financial institutions are offering their customers new financing alternatives.
The firm Invermaster has indicated that some seventy banks have $500 million to invest in companies in the region.
"One alternative that has gained importance, according to Invermaster, is 'mezzanine financing', an intermediate instrument between traditional debt and equity investment.
Interbolsa’s assets, liabilities and contracts have been acquired by Bancolombia in order to ensure the stable operation of the public debt market and Colombia’s payment system.
A statement from the Financial Supervision reads:
FINANCIAL SUPERVISOR AUTHORIZES MEASURES WITHIN THE TAKEOVER PROCESS OF INTERBOLSA SCB
- Authorization has been given for Interbolsa SCB to transfer to Bancolombia its operations of future performance, repurchase agreements and sell/buy-back transactions backed by TES, ensuring stability in the operation of the public debt market and payment system.
The application of internationally used theoretical models by emerging countries is like "precision measuring with a ruler, drawing with a pencil and cutting with an axe."
"According to various surveys on international financial policies and practices, the most commonly used to estimate the cost of shareholders’ resources is the Capital Asset Pricing Model , known as CAPM for short."
Economy and Development Report by CAF - Development Bank in Latin America -entitled Financial Services for development: promoting access in Latin America.
From the introduction of the first chapter of the report:
Access to financial services - Development and Welfare
Why could access to financial services be an important factor for economic development and welfare in Latin America? A first important aspect is that financial institutions have the mission to attract domestic savings, and possibly also those from external sources, to finance both working capital (liquidity needs) such as business investment (physical capital). Meanwhile, families also require credit to finance investment or expenditure needs (e.g. children's education or purchase of durable goods), whose timing may not coincide with the availability of current income or savings.
New technologies will be the basis for changes affecting users of financial services in the future.
Accessing your account from Facebook and financing being offered at the time you buy a product are some of the innovations that we could be seeing in the coming years in the banking industry.
This is one of the conclusions from research conducted by experts in technology and financial services applications, which include, among other things, the ability to soon be able to sign agreements using just a smartphone.
The financial sector remains stable in spite of the economic crisis and a slight increase in credit card delinquency.
For the end of 2009, delinquency of more than 90 days is expected to rise to 2.6% from 1.6%, said Victor Urcuyo, president of the Central American Council of Banking Superintendents.
The official also said that "... in credit cards, 30-day arrears increased 7.8%, while 90-day arrears 3.2%", reported Prensalibre.com.