The Banks of Bogota and the West they also joined the cascade of low interest rates. While in the first the reduction will be 20 percent effective annually as of Monday, March 13 and covers credit cards of all quotas, in the second the cut will be effective as of March 15 and will be of 57 percent for food and supermarket purchases made by all its customers, with any credit card.
(Also read: Other banks in the country will join the lowering of credit card rates)
According to the directives of Banco de Bogotá, there will be a special rate for your cardholders in purchases of the most relevant categories of household consumption. The rate will be 1.53 percent nominal per month, equivalent to 20 percent effective per year, and represents a reduction of less than half of the current rate. This reduction applies to all credit card quotas for customers with Aliada, Clásica, Economy and Joven cards.
“Part of our organizational purpose is focused on making people development a reality. We materialize this today with the decision to reduce rates in these categories, understanding that the measure benefits many Colombian households and alleviates people’s cash flow,» he said. César Prado, president of the entity.
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As announced by the Banco de Occidente directives, they currently have an alternate minimum payment option, which allows customers to defer their purchases for 48 months, freeing up cash flow.
just as i anticipated TIME This week, the Colombian financial market was on the verge of a ‘war for portfolio purchase’ and, according to sources consulted, this drop in interest rates is the preamble to this source of competition between entities for system clients in a complicated situation of high rates, inflation and slowdown of the economy.
Banco de Occidente also reminds its customers that, for the payment of taxes, it also offers differential interest rates, from 1.31 percent month in arrears (16.85 percent effective per year), while during a Saturday a month, it offers zero interest for purchases of more than 500,000 pesos in airlines, hotels and travel agencies, to support the tourism sector and offset the increase in VAT on the purchase of air tickets.
The fight in the banks over who now offers a lower interest rate and other credit card benefits was started this week by Bancolombia, just one day after Jorge Castaño Gutiérrez, Financial Superintendency, to reveal to EL TIEMPO the warnings that he had given his surveillance to adopt strategies that would alleviate the current financial burdens on thousands of debtors and thus prevent the quality of the financial portfolio from being damaged, in an environment that is not very difficult from the start. economic point of view.
This announcement was joined today Friday andl Davivienda Bank, cwhose directives report that they use a rate of 20 percent, from 46 percent, to the purchases with the greatest impact by Colombian families, while to support the countryside that same interest will cover the acquisition of agricultural inputs.
EL TIEMPO was able to confirm yesterday that the next step in lowering interest rates will be for all types of microcredit, an announcement that the Government will make in the coming days.