Five years ago, bank loans disappeared in Venezuela. Accelerated inflation caused banks to limit this mechanism, impacting the purchasing and saving capacity of citizens.
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Since the economic rebound in 2022, banking entities began to provide financing, but only companies, so citizens continued to be limited, but, now, particular initiatives are beginning to encourage andl 'buy now, pay later'.
These alternatives have allowed Venezuelans to acquire goods that, otherwise, they would not have been able to, and without representing a single blow to their tight pockets, affected by inflation that accumulated 182.9 percent until November.
Unlike other credit systems, in this case, the client immediately takes the product and through mobile applications, the debt is paid.
At this moment, the Venezuelan has the purchasing power, but not the saving capacity.
For example, a national network of home equipment stores allows payment to be made at a time convenient for the customer, with a maximum of 12 weeks. While a department store chain offers to pay 30 percent of the cost of the item in foreign currency and the rest in fractions. Which freezes the price of the product until the person completes the payment and picks it up.
“At this moment, Venezuelans have the purchasing power, but not the saving capacity. For example, you give an initial payment, more or less affordable, and you have the product,” Pablo González, vice president of the Venezuelan Real Estate Chamber, explains to EL TIEMPO, alluding that this phenomenon only allows obtaining consumer goods but there is still a stagnation in the purchase of homes.
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Not having the ability to save represents a problem for Venezuelans, who also live with bolivars and dollars at the same time.
Economist Tamara Herrera told EFE at the end of December that these microcredit mechanisms only come to “fill the void” created by the “credit restriction imposed” by the Central Bank.
The bet on microcredit
In hardware stores, clothing stores, appliance stores, shoe stores and home stores, you see ads with the same advertisement “we accept Cashea”. The microcredit mechanism that covers the current market.
“Cashea representative to box 1” is heard over the speakers of a well-known hardware store by department. The users, With the products in hand, they give the coordinates to the representative of the enterprise and they pay and the entire process is done with the cell phone.
This initiative was born in October 2022, offering the “buy now and pay later” model (in interest-free installments), a modality with a “greater impact” in countries where “access to credit is limited,” as explained to EFE. its co-founder and general director Pedro Vallenilla.
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He indicated that last year there were “more than 30” businesses affiliated with the platform, and now he estimates closing 2023 with “more than 1,000” in Caracas and six other cities, in sectors such as clothing, hardware stores, vehicle parts and electronic equipment. and then, in 2024, operate in two other Latin American nations.
Regarding the number of consumers, these did not exceed 50,000 in 2022, and at this time they have more than 1.7 million, with the expectation of having more than 2 million “before the end of the year.”
He explained that, at first, users who register on the platform can opt for financing of between $40 and $250. A limit that increases as a reward for those responsible with their payments.
ANA MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BRAZÓN
TIME CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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