Accessing credit is becoming more difficult, the interest rates applied by banks are through the roof and this morning the Financial Superintendency accredited the usury rate for consumer and ordinary credit, raising it 180 basis points.
So it is highly probable that your credit card purchases come with interest of up to 43.26%, which is the maximum that financial institutions can charge for the money they place.
When the government, unions and unions negotiated the increase in the minimum wage for 2023, the Government came out with the commitment to review the formula with which the usury rate is credited, which by law must be 1.5 times the interest interbank, which is the one charged between banks when money is lent.
In that way? Banks need liquidity to be able to lend money, this initially results from the collection of resources from the public, which is why they offer interest when you are going to open a CDT, today those rates are representing returns of more than 15%. Another option is to borrow from Banco de la República, which has set its interest rate at 12%, and then there are loans with other banks.
This is the interbank rate, it is the one that the Superintendency takes into account to credit the usury, so that the banks can earn after placing resources that they themselves borrowed. Obviously, the banks with the greatest financial muscle should have a high rate because if they have sufficient liquidity, they earn all the interest charged to the public.
And most credit cards are at a variable rate tied to the usury rate. This means that if in January you buy a 12-month product for one million pesos with a credit card, you may end up paying $1,432,600, plus the handling fee for your financial product.
Other interests that rise
On the other hand, the rate for the microcredit modality will be 58.8% effective per year, an increase of 337 basic points (3.37%).
Likewise, the Superfinanciera certified the effective annual Current Bank Interest for the modality of consumer and ordinary credit at 28.84%. This is an increase of 120 basis points (1.20%) that will be in force between January 1 and 31, 2023.
Finally, the Superintendence announced that the Current Bank Interest for microcredits increased to 39.2%
We will have to wait and see how long they take to define a formula that will bring credit closer to Colombian families.