State Banks To The
Rescue For the January
Financial Crunch
Costa Ricans now face
"La Cuesta de Enero"
(January financial
crunch), the annual
occurrence after the
Christmas spending
leaves many with their
pockets empty and then
added by the cost of
getting children ready
for back to school.
Economic experts say
that this year's
economic crunch will
last up to three months.
State banks have been
quick to react offering
small loans that are
approved in less than an
hour in some cases to
anyone who can present a
"constancia salarial"
(record of income) and
copy of their cedula, a
copy of the Caja
contributions and a
public utility bill.
Bancrédito, for example,
is offering Rapicrédito
de Bancrédito (rapid
loans) of up to ¢200.000
colones (us$400 dollars)
with a term of up to
four years at only 19%
annual interest. The
payments come to only
¢5.887 colones (us$12)
monthly.
The Banco Nacional (BN)
is offering two types of
loans which the bank
says it will approve in
less than 24 hours for
amounts between ¢75.000
and ¢2 million colones.
The BN loans have terms
from six months to five
years and an annual
interest rate of 25%.
The bank calls it loans
BN Soluciones (BN
solutions). The Banco
Nacional may required a
co-signer.
At the Banco Popular
customers can get help
through its “Salvaditas
Popular” (Popular
Lifesavers) offering
loans from ¢50.000 to
¢500.000 colones with a
two year term and no
cosigners required.
At the Banco de Costa
Rica (BCR) customers can
take advantage of the "crédito
de entrada a clases"
(back to school loans)
that the bank says it
will approve in 20
minutes and without a
co-signer. The bank
offers a term of up to
18 months. The BCR
website does not mention
the interest rate or the
terms of repayment,
which is done at the
branch at the time
requesting the loan.
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