Colombians have been watching the usury rate certified by the Financial Superintendence for months rise, to the point that by March 2023 it stood at 46.26% annual effective (ea), a record figure.
Well, after several banks reduced interest rates for credit cards, the BBVA bank (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) launched a dream offer for the month of March. According to the information provided on its website, it is offering credit cards to some Colombians with a monthly nominal rate in arrears of just 0.60% for portfolio purchases and 1.35% for purchases. For other Colombians, it offers other much less attractive options.
It may interest you: Be careful, according to your income, check here how much you have to contribute and what you receive with the pension reform
We tell you who can benefit.
a lucky few
The lowest rates in the portfolio offered by BBVA are held by the card Club El Nogal. It is a “closed mark”and those who benefit from it can access purchase of portfolio with a monthly arrears nominal rate of 0.60% and effective annual rate of just 7.50%a small percentage even if compared to the rates that banks are offering after the reduction defined a few weeks ago.
In the case of shopping with a credit card, the lucky ones will be able to make purchases with a monthly nominal rate in arrears of just 1.35% and an effective annual rate of 17.46%. With this card, they can make purchases for a maximum period of 36 months.
These rates are nothing alike to those that the bank offers to the users of the Heroes Card and of the U Finance Card.
Heroes y Financia la U credit card: more interest
For those who cannot access the Club El Nogal closed card, the bank offers other options that, however, are much less attractive.
According to the information available on its website, BBVA offers credit cards for purchases and advances. Master Card (Essential, Euro, Standard, Gold, Platinum and Black) and Visa (Congelada, Clásica, Oro, Platinum, ELA, Studio F, Senior, Aqua, Infinite), con una nominal monthly rate in arrears (NMV) of 3.20% and an effective annual rate of 45.86%, up to 36 months.
All purchases made with these cards and are deferred to one month remain at a rate of 0%, “as long as the customer makes the payment by the due date.”
On the other hand, when the concept of the transaction is the payment of national taxes, the users of the aforementioned credit cards have an NMV rate of 2.61% and 36.26% effective per year.
These same rates can be obtained with the Heroes Card for purchases, advances and payment of national taxes, with which annual effective interest is 28.4 percentage points higher than that of Card users Club El Nogal. Additionally, the benefit of 0% for purchases deferred to a monthly fee disappears.
Also read: Hass avocado: how to reap its nutritional and health benefits
Finally, the Spanish bank offers the U Finance Card, exclusively for the payment of tuition in higher education institutions with terms between 6, 12 and 24 months. This card, with which households finance their children’s dream of seeing professionals, has a nominal rate of 1.50% per month. Regarding the effective annual rate, it is 19.56%. In this case, the difference with the card Club El Nogal is lower, 2.1 percentage points.
Other options offered by the BBVA bank
As regards the purchase of a portfolio, in addition to the card Club El Nogal BBV offers the following options:
- Black / Infinite y Platinum: Monthly arrears nominal rate for this type of card is 1.75%, while the annual effective rate is 23.20%.
- Oro / Gold: Monthly arrears nominal rate of 2.03% and annual effective rate of 27.20%.
- Classic / Standard: Monthly arrears nominal rate of 2.05% and effective annual rate of 27.60%.
- frozen: Monthly arrears nominal rate of 2.09% and effective annual rate of 28.10%.
For more information, you can enter here.
Interest rates against inflation
The purpose of the Banco de la República in raising interest rates is to curb inflation, a goal that, however, has not been achieved. Proof of this is that in 2022 it closed at 13.12% and in February 2023 it reached an annual figure of 13.28%.
After President Gustavo Petro asked the financial system to lower interest rates, and in a context of strong competition for the purchase of portfolios among the different banks, Bancolombia announced a substantial decrease in the interest rates charged to some of your credit card users. This fell from 46% to 25% annual cash and the bank estimates that it will benefit 1.3 million credit cards.
Bancolombia was followed by other banks, such as Banco Agrario, Banco de Bogotá, Davivienda, Banco de Occidente, Scotiabank Colpatria, Findeter, Banco Pichincha and BBVA. But, so far, it seems difficult to beat the El Nogal Club Card.
Keep reading: How the pension calculation works with more than 1800 weeks of contributions
