There are more people asking for a loan to pay debts. We are giving more money for this purpose”
Ricardo Arenas, spokesman for Yotepresto.
The lower interest rates charged by some fintechs make more and more people turn to them to request loans and thereby pay their other bank debts.
Only in the first two months of 2022, the fintech Yotepresto –which is still in the final authorization process– placed 54.4 million pesos for users to consolidate or transfer debts, which represented a growth of 40% compared to the same period last year .
Ricardo Arenas, spokesman for Yotepresto explained that the number of requests also increased by 30% in the period, going from 14,000 to 18,000, and the average amount of the loans is 67,000 pesos.
“There are more people asking for a loan to pay debts. We are giving more money for this purpose, to consolidate or transfer, ”she said.
In an interview, he pointed out that of the 1,500 million pesos placed so far by the platform, 70% has practically been to pay bank credit card debts, and, to a lesser extent, personal loans, whose interest rates are higher.
He argued that the increase in loan applications is due to factors such as the reactivation of economic activity and with it consumption; high inflation, since the model with which it operates (connecting credit applicants with investors) is increasingly consolidated.
Likewise, he foresaw that, derived from the effects of inflation, there would be a greater demand for credit, although he clarified that the platform must continue to be responsible by not over-indebting people, so not all those who request will have access to financing.
“We have the slogan of not authorizing credit in such an irresponsible way, of not over-indebting people,” he explained.
Savings for users
The Yotepresto spokesperson mentioned that people who decide to use this platform to request loans have had the rates they were paying on banking products lowered by up to 22 percentage points.
He stated that, according to his own data, savings of 350 million pesos have been achieved for the benefit of its users.
“We are about to reach more than 350 million pesos of savings in interest on cards and bank loans,” he assured.
They still do not reflect rate hike
Ricardo Arenas highlighted that, until now, they have not reflected the increase that has occurred in the interest rate of the Bank of Mexico, considered a reference, in the loans they grant and it is not projected in the short term, but he did not rule out that this may happen in the future, above all because they must also provide higher returns to investors.
In this way, he pointed out that “the model, as it involves people from both sides, tries to keep that gap as balanced as possible. In the short term we have not thought about it yet, but if this indicator definitely continues to increase, it will have to be reviewed.
