Informe de Otros Proveedores No Financieros de Crédito

The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) groups under the category “Other Non-Financial Credit Providers” (OPNFC) companies that grant financing to the general public without being financial institutions or non-bank issuers of credit or purchase cards.

The Report on Other Non-Financial Credit Providers provides a semi-annual review of the evolution of the loans granted by these entities, the profile of their debtors and the financing conditions. It analyzes the amounts borrowed, interest rates, levels of irregularity, and financing they receive from the financial system and the capital market, offering a detailed overview of the segments of the population that access this type of credit.

Summary

– Other Non-Financial Credit Providers (OPNFCs) registered with the BCRA more than triple the number of financial institutions (288 providers registered to date, while financial institutions total 78).

– It is a heterogeneous group of companies, which includes cooperatives and mutuals, companies selling household appliances and fintechs, among others.

– The credit balances of the OPNFCs reached 7.8% of the total loans in pesos of the financial system to individuals and SMEs (as of January 2020). Excluding credit card assistance from both totals, this proportion rises to 9.6%.

– The number of single debtors stands at around 4 million people. Of this total, 2.3 million people also have debts with the financial system.

– The portfolio in an irregular situation was high, reaching around 36% in the first quarter of the OPNFCs as a whole, although differences were verified between suppliers (lower ratios in the case of cooperatives and mutuals and higher in the case of companies selling household appliances and fintechs).

– The debt of the OPNFCs with the financial system represented about 20% of the loans granted by the OPNFCs to their customers during the first quarter.

– The irregularity of the debt with the financial system of the group of companies selling household appliances was the highest (over 40%), followed by all the issuers of non-bank cards also registered as OPNFC; while those of fintechs and cooperatives and mutuals were very low or non-existent.

– Average interest rates in the first quarter were between 113% and 125% for OPNFCs as a whole, while the median was close to 100%.

– Cooperatives and mutuals showed the lowest average interest rates among the OPNFC subgroups in the first quarter of 2020, while fintechs presented the highest values.