Costa Ricans Owe 571 Billion Colones In
Credit Cards
(InfoWebPress) – The Ministry of Economy,
Industry and Commerce (MEIC), through its
Office for Competitiveness and Economic
Studies, carried out its quarterly
comparative study of the country’s credit
cards (February to May of 2009).
This study included 26 credit card issuers
that currently offer 401 different types of
credit cards, for an increase of 51
offerings compared to February of this year.
This number is the result of 62 new cards
entering the market and 11 disappearing.
As of February of 2009, the amount of credit
card debt Costa Ricans had was 571 billion
colones (a little over $1 billion). This
amount includes debt by those who pay their
outstanding balances by the due date and do
not incur in interest debt, as well as those
who use credit cards as a means of
financing.
However, this amount of debt only represents
25 percent of the total credit limit given
to Costa Ricans, that is, Ticos could owe
four times more had they reached their
credit limits.
Costa Ricans currently hold 1,384,953 credit
cards (including mains cards and additional
cards), for a total of 1,204,660 credit card
holders. This information comes from data
requested by MEIC of the credit issuers in
February. It should be noted that some
consumers have two or more different credit
card accounts to their names.
MEIC also collected information about the
length of time cardholders have had their
accounts open, in an effort to identify how
this has evolved in the marketplace.
The report indicates that in the past two
years, nearly 40 percent of the current
cards have come online, which directly
correlates to the greater number of cards
made available by credit issuers through
aggressive marketing campaigns and product
differentiation, among other strategies. Of
all the cards currently held, nearly 67
percent have been placed in the past four
years.
Available cards with the lowest interest
rates are those in the restricted access
category, that is, those that can offer
better rates to the customer but can only be
obtained by people who are members of
specific organizations such as professional
associations, cooperatives and others. They
also have requirements that don’t have any
direct relation with the issuing of the card
itself, such as having previously had loans
with the issuing company, or their use may
be limited to payment of certain services or
at certain companies or organizations.
Interest rate differences can be as wide as
30 percent points between the issuers at the
top of this category and those at the
bottom, reason for which users must analyze
their payment capacity and the conditions
offered by the credit card they are planning
to select. |
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