The scenario of high interest rates is already reflecting an impact on the placement of credits, although the expectation of having a good performance in 2023 is maintained, said the general director of BBVA Mexico, Eduardo Osuna.
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“We are already seeing a little more delinquency in some portfolios, it is normal, but banks are coming from very solid numbers in 2021 and 2022 in terms of credit quality, because after the pandemic we did take a lot of losses and the portfolios ended up very healthy ”, he explained.
In an interview prior to the 86th edition of the Banking Convention, to be held in Mérida, Yucatán, on March 16 and 17, he stressed that, at a time of high inflation and more restrictive monetary policy, families have less income, but The start of the year has been positive for activity and could lead to better behavior in the coming months.
“We must be attentive to what is going to happen in the world, it is a very uncertain moment, but we do have a positive production that, now seeing the start of the year, and without saying that we are going to change the forecast, what could happen to us The same thing that happened in 2022, when we saw activity greater than what the macro numbers reflected and it ended up being confirmed with 3% growth,” he highlighted.
In the opinion of the general director of the main financial group that operates in Mexico, there is still no clarity as to whether or when the US economy will enter a recession, since some more optimistic estimates indicate that a scenario of this type could occur until the end of year or even in 2024.
Thus, he said that BBVA México maintains its credit placement risk analysis schemes and so far has not closed the money tap, but remains attentive to a change
of cycle that leads him to be more cautious with the profile of his clients, in order to avoid problems
of indebtedness.
“We are not cautious in an environment that has these uncertainties. What we are interested in seeing in the case of business financing are healthy, viable projects, with good clients who know their business,” said Osuna.
“We continue with our route and what we are doing is feeding back the approval models of natural persons with more data to be more assertive. What we want is for there to be more credit, and you have to grant it well, because if you don’t, you end up paying that delinquency”.
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Osuna said that the new strategy of the Bank of Mexico through the platform Mobile Money (DiMo) has the potential to increase bank access in the country, since it will be an incentive to invite more of the population to use digital services, mainly from the informal sector.
“We are very advanced in the tests, we are ready to go as soon as the regulator gives us the flag and we see it very well,” he said.
“This country requires several things for us to grow faster and for bank penetration and credit to advance to levels of other countries. The more informal an economy is, the less credit there is, because people don’t want to use the banking system. That is an inhibitor of the growth of the economy”.
Osuna said that DiMo, a platform that will allow transfers just by having the recipient’s phone number, without the need for an interbank CLABE, will simplify operations between people and businesses.
“It’s a great idea that has happened in other countries. We have worked with the regulator and what it will allow is that this whole world of informality and that does not want to bank, make it more accessible ”, he considered.
“Today the cost of having an account in the banking system is zero. What we have to do is enable more mechanisms for people to join the system and see the benefits of being in the financial system, which will give them access to other products to improve their quality of life.”
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