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.
In the last few months, interest in credit cards has been increasing in the digital environment, a rise that is mainly explained by the behavior of consumers in Panama, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
Through a system monitoring changes in consumer interests and preferences in Central American countries in real time, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends for the different products, sectors and markets operating in the region.
From August 4th and during 10 working days, the Central Bank of Costa Rica will submit to public consultation the technical study regarding the First ordinary fixing of commissions of the payment card system and the proposal of Regulations of the Payment Card System.
This study and proposed regulation are being carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Maximum Commissions of the Payment Card System, Law 9831, of March 21, 2020, informed the monetary authority.
Between May 2019 and the same month this year, the number of credit cards circulating in the Salvadoran market increased by 9.2%.
According to figures from the Observatory of Credit Cards (OTC), of the Consumer Defense Office, in May 2020 there were 876,197 credit cards circulating in El Salvador, which is more than the 801,822 registered in the same month of 2019.
In the countries of the region, more than 8 million people are looking for credit on the Internet. Of this group of consumers, approximately 9% explore options for taking out a student loan.
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.
The Banco Popular y de Desarrollo Comunal de Costa Rica is bidding for the credit card processing service and the dataphone rental and maintenance service in its various modalities, under the modality of consumption on demand.
Costa Rica Government Purchase 2020LN-000009-0020600001:
"Services are required for the processing of VISA and MasterCard for products, credit, debit and prepaid, whether they are their own or sponsored to a third party, additionally, it is required to hire the services of rental of dataphones (POS) in its various forms and preventive and corrective maintenance services of the terminals.
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.
A bill has been submitted to the National Assembly proposing to prohibit the practice of advance discounts for late payments.
The document also provides that banks agree to enter into a payment arrangement with the debtor when the customer is more than 90 days late in paying the loan.
Last December 2, the new Credit Card Law proposal received a favorable opinion from the Economy Commission of the Guatemalan Congress, and now it should be discussed in the plenary session.
Implementing a mixed system of interest rates composed of a fixed one with a contract for a determined time and another variable agreed between the account holder and the issuer, is one of the proposals that are discussed in the Congress of Guatemala.
The proposal for two interest rates was presented by the Instituto de Investigación y Proyección sobre Economía y Sociedad Plural (Idies), before the Congressional Economic Commission, in charge of discussing the proposals for changes to Credit Card Law 5544.
With the approval of the reforms to the Credit Card System Law, in El Salvador it will be banned to charge interest on surcharges generated by arrears.
The reforms also establish that banks must deliver free of charge settlements and cancellations of credit cards, physically or electronically, at the latest within 24 hours, while the documents of obligation or promissory notes that the debtor has signed must be returned within 5 business days maximum, informed the Legislative Assembly:
Between January and April 2019, the number of debit cards circulating in the country fell 5%, from 6.03 million to 5.71 million, and the accumulated balance of accounts associated with these plastics fell by 3%.
Based on the information reported by the companies, up to April 30, 2019 there were a total of 5,719,387 cardholders in the domestic market. When comparing this amount with the data from the previous study, a decrease of 311,505 cardholders is registered, informed the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC).
In Costa Rica, the authorities will begin to regulate the fees that form part of the commissions, which are charged when an electronic payment is made.
After the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) requested the Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM) on July 27, 2018, the investigation of the interbank rates market in the service of acquiring electronic payment methods, Opinion No. 16-2019 of June 11, 2019 was issued.
Not considering the costs of the collection process, nor market conditions, are some of the failures that banks identify in the bill being discussed in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica.
Between December 2017 and March of this year, the number of active credits in the country fell 21%, mainly because of the fall in commercial loans and cards.
Data from the Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (Siboif), specify that between December 2017 and March this year the number of loans fell by almost 400 thousand, going from 1.79 million to 1.41 million.
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