Know the fees and handling fees charged by different credit cards

by time news

It is increasingly expensive to make purchases with a credit card and have this type of plastic. with the notorious usury rate increase This may be an opportune moment to review costs and find out whether or not it is convenient, according to your purchasing power, to have a credit card.

First of all, before purchasing or using it, it is key to know how much you will be charged for making deferred purchases in more than one installment. This is where the usury rate plays a very important role, since it is the maximum interest that a financial institution can charge its customers for consumer and ordinary credit, such as these plastics.

Precisely, last Friday the Superfinanciera announced that for February this rate for the consumer and ordinary credit modality was located at 45.27% annual effective, having an increase of 201 basic points (2.01%) compared to January , month in which it was at 43.26%.

This means that if in January a purchase for $1 million with a credit card with a rate above 43% EA, interest would be paid for $250,000 a year, but with the increase in usury in February, in those banks that manage rates above 45%, the interest to be paid annually will be approximately $261,000.

Although the banks have not yet released their rates for February, this represents a high cost, and taking into account the data for January, in which it is estimated that there are more than 11 million credit cards with interests that are above 43%, it is expected that for February this will follow the same line.

Added to these interest costs are handling fees. According to the latest data from the Superfinanciera, registered as of December 2022, this amount can range from $14,900, the monthly fee for the use of the classic Mastercard of Cooperativa Confiar, up to $44,990, value that corresponds to the monthly fee of the Mastercard black/signature offered by Scotiabank Colpatria.

These figures show that financial cooperatives and financing companies have more attractive rates compared to banks. For example, the monthly charge for using the classic Visa from Financiera Juriscoop is $18,000, while this same card at Scotiabank Colpatria has a fee of $29,990.

Among the cards that also have lower handling fees (between $16,000 and $24,990), are those that do not have a franchise and are managed directly by the financial institution, such as Davivienda, Falabella, Codensa, Olimpica, Éxito and Alkosto. For example, the Davivienda Red Card fee is $16,000.

It must be taken into account that not all entities charge the handling fee in the same term, as this can vary between a month in due or anticipated, or quarter in due or anticipatedFor example, Banco Pichincha manages a handling fee for your classic Visa of $60,900 quarterly expired, which by doing the operation would represent a monthly payment of $20,300, one of the lowest when compared to other fees for this line.

Other banks that charge quarterly are Banco Caja Social SA, AV Villas, Banco Pichincha and Banco GNB Sudameris. The highest rate for this form of payment is for AV Villas for its Visa and Mastercard Platinum cards ($109,500).

To this are also added the advance costswhich are between $18,950 with banks such as Scotiabank Colpatria, and $8,500 at Banco Caja Social, when they are made in a branch.

It should be noted that most banks do not charge for this action, except for making the advance at an ATM of another entity, where the costs range from $5,000 to $6,200.

With all this, if a person deferred the payment of a purchase for one year in a bank with a rate above 45%, with an average monthly due handling fee of $22,500 and does not make advances, they would be paying almost $130,000 monthly for their card, which annually would represent more than $1.5 million for the payment of the purchase and the handling fee.

This means that if, in addition to paying for a purchase, you pay a higher handling fee and constantly make advances, you could be incurring annual expenses of over $2 million, without taking into account the insurance or additional costs that each bank may be handling. .

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