About two out of every hundred Ecuadorians have one or more. The levels of over-indebtedness are high; one must know how to use ‘plastic money’.
Currently, in Ecuador there are 2.6 million people with credit card. That represents 21% of the working-age population. In other words, only a small part of the population has access to this financial product.
According to a study by Equifax, the average cardholder is male, between the ages of 35 and 49, single, and a resident of Pichincha, Guayas, or Manabí.
About half of Ecuadorians with credit card misuses it, and at some point, they have taken on too much debt.
In this context, it becomes important to point out the risks and potentialities of having the so-called plastic money:
● One credit card it becomes a very useful input, especially in digital channels and in applications, but they should not be confused with cash; It should always be remembered that the commitment made must be paid within a set period.
● Have a credit card It can be very useful in the event of an emergency. You may need to cover a medical expense or have to pay school fees. Whatever the case that must be answered quickly, having an immediate financing line is very valuable
Also, you may have to pay for an unexpected expense. An appliance may break in your home or a pipe may break. Can you purchase the product without paying in monthly installments?
have one on hand credit card it can save many times from having to wait until you save the full money to buy it.
● Have a credit card is to access immediate credit. For this reason, it will be useful when applying for a loan to buy a home or a vehicle, for example.
Banks look at your financial behavior when you apply for a loan and will therefore look at how you have used your plastic over time.
● Before using a card new it is important to calculate the ability to pay; that is, to borrow less than the amount that can be paid, and for this the best tool is the personal budget.
● To avoid excessive indebtedness, and make good use of the plastic money, you must learn to read your account statement. There are three key pieces of information in that document:
The amount of debt allows you to know how much you must deposit monthly and also make a projection of the indebtedness so as not to exceed the payment capacity.
Meanwhile, the cut-off date allows you to know the day on which the issuing bank closes the record of consumption and passes it to the account statement.
Finally, the payment date is the one on which the debt must be canceled before generating additional interest. In addition, your account statement also offers you a minimum to pay, which is generally 10% of the total monthly debt. If you choose this option, remember that you are still creating a debt that must be covered.
● The more cards possessed, the data to be remembered is multiplied by three. Thus, if a person drives 3 cards, there are 9 basic data that must be remembered; if you have 4 Credit cardsthe data to take into account is 12, and so on.
● Create a schedule of both the court and the payment date, have it visible or program reminder alarms that allow you to meet your payment obligations on time.
● Review your report credit every three months. This is a document that allows you to know how much you owe and to which entities; It also contains the information of all your Credit cards and helps you organize your finances to calculate if there is the capacity for a new debt. The credit history managed by the Superintendency of Banks can be consulted at this link.
How many cards do Ecuadorians have?
According to Verónica Rodríguez, Equifax Operations Manager, of the total number of registered cardholders, 1.3 million have a card; about 608,000 own two cards; 330,000 have 3 of these means of payment; about 189,000 drive 4 cards; and, 235,000 have 5 or more.
If a ranking is made of the provinces in which the largest number of people with Credit cards, the list is led by Pichincha with some 758,000 cardholders; Guayas follows with some 722,000; Manabí with more than 194,000 people: Azuay with about 158,000, and El Oro with a little more than 113,000.
While, Galapagos and the provinces of the Amazon (Napo, Zamora Chinchipe, Pastaza, Orellana, Morona and Sucumbíos) are the ones with the fewest people with access to this means of payment; Together these seven provinces add up to about 74,000 subjects; which is equivalent to almost the number of cardholders located in the province of Loja (68,000).
Finally, if marital status is also considered, 47.7% of cardholders are single; 39.5% are married; and, 12.6% is distributed among other marital statuses. (JS)
FACT. In total, 5.7 million notes are issued and in active use in Ecuador. Credit cards.
IT MAY INTEREST YOU:
Less than 50% of children with cancer are cured in Ecuador
Less than 20% of Ecuadorians have access to credit in the country
Actors of the violence of October 2019 camouflage themselves in the amnesty request
