Credit Card Interest
Rates As High As 50%
Credit has swept through
Costa Rica as Costa
Ricans continue increase
their spending on credit
and mostly through one
or more of the 360
different credit cards
offered by financial
institutions.
Banks and "financieras"
(lending houses)
continue to offer Costa
Rican businesses ways of
attracting more
customers.
According to the
Ministerio de Economía,
Industria y Comercio (MEIC),
10 more credit cards
have been added since
the government agency
did a count last May.
The MEIC makes an
analysis of the market
every three months,
comparing credit cards
offered by financial
institutions.
During the last count,
the MEIC found that the
Banca Promérica S.A.
offered five new Visa
cards, the Banco Improsa
came out with Visa Gold
International and
Credomatic with four new
cards in conjunction
with the retail store
Pricesmart.
The difference between
the cards with the
lowest and the highest
rate of interest is
30.65%.
In addition to offering
rewards for their use,
some credit cards offer
travel insurance,
medical assistance,
replacement within 24
hours anywhere in the
world, rental vehicle
insurance and points or
miles.
The leader with the most
credit cards offered is
Credomatic with 81
products, followed by
Bancrédito and the Banco
Nacional tied for second
place with 46 products
each and in third place,
Aval card with 27
products.
A comparison of interest
rates places Visa cards
offered by the BCT at
50.4%, followed by Aval
Card with 49.92% and
Credomatic charging
49.56% for its American
Express card.
The card issuer with the
lowest rates include the
Banco de Costa Rica (BCR)
visa at 19.75%, while
the Banco Nacional
charges only 22% on its
Mastercard.
The above rates were
taken from the MEIC
report.
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