War of bank card rate cuts: it was the banks that announced cuts

The policies of the Bank of the Republic In the midst of the rise in the inflation figure, they generated a fluctuation in the economy in 2023, which is why interest rates increased exponentially from the first days of the year; however, during the first week of March 2023, banks began to lower those numbers Significantly, some entities have lowered their rates to 20% on credit cards.

It was the banks that announced the reduction of your interest rates and the dates on which the benefits will apply.

Bancolombia announced that it would lower interest rates from 46% to 25% effective annual rate on 1.3 million of its credit cards, this measure began on Friday March 10. The cards concerned by this measure are: American Express Blue, Classic Visa, Ideal Mastercard, Classic Mastercard and Youth Mastercard.

Regarding the benefit, the entity said the following: “we have listened to the needs of the people and, being aware of the reality of the country, we have the priority of taking care of the financial well-being of the Colombians. This is how our objective materializes”, assured Juan Carlos Mora, president of the bank.

This financial entity will lower interest rates from 46% to 20% on purchases made with the classic card, this measure will begin on March 11. The discount will be applied to cards used for groceries, gas, education, clothing, footwear, health, insurance, utilities and taxes with quotas below four millions of pesos.

Banco Colpatria will lower its annual effective interest rates to 20% from March 14, and it can be used for purchases at supermarkets, fuel at petrol stations and restaurants.

This bank will also have a special rate set at 20% annually in cash, and will be applied to purchases made in supermarkets, medical services, education and public services. The advantage granted by Banco de Bogotá applies to all its cards: Aliada, Clásica, Economy and Joven. Fares will be reduced starting Monday, March 13, 2023.

Effective March 15, this entity will also reduce its interest rates, which will also be set at an effective 20% per annum, equivalent to a reduction of 57%. The measure will only apply to food purchases and supermarkets.

In order to free up cash, this bank has announced that it will activate another minimum payment option that will allow customers to defer their purchases for 48 months.

Another of the banks that set its rate at 20% was BBVA. The benefit will be activated from March 15 for its more than 1.3 million digital users.

The cards that will be activated are: Classic Visa, MasterCard Standard, MasterCard Senior and Pensional Senior — card for retirees — it will also be available for the Heroes Mastercard which is for use by military and police forces. The quota will also be four million pesos.

The benefit can be applied for purchases in supermarkets, clothing and footwear, gas stations, education, health services, taxes and public services.

The public financial institution will apply a rate reduction to your Agroinsumos credit card which will be set at 24.76%, but will not have management fees.

Users who open this product with the entity will get the benefit of purchasing inputs, tools and other raw materials for agricultural production.

Regarding the measures that the banks have taken, the director of economic analysis of Casa de Bolsa, affirmed that these announcements generate relief for the Colombian economy.

“It’s a good strategy, interest rates are at their highest level since the 1990s, cutting rates reduces the likelihood that defaults will increase and portfolio quality will deteriorate, resulting in less supplies,” said Juan David Ballen.

The measure was also welcomed by the national government. The Minister of Finance, Jose Antonio Ocampoassured that the popular economy will be the most favoured, “commercial trades and professions (production, distribution and marketing of goods and services) and non-commercial (domestic or community) developed by small economic units (personal, family, micro-enterprises or micro-enterprises ), in any economic sector”.