New round of speakers on the problems related to marketing with credit cards

It was given in the framework of the plenary of the Trade and Consumer, User and Competition Commissionschaired by the radical national deputies gabriela lena y Victor Hugo Romerorespectively.

During the joint meeting they presented César Bastienexecutive director of the Chamber of Credit and Purchase Cards (ATACYC); Claudio Alberto Cesariopresident of the Association of Banks of Argentina (ABA); Norberto Etchegoyenexecutive director of the Chamber of Regional Issuers of Non-Bank Credit and Consumer Cards (CERTACyC); Francisco Grismondi, general manager of the Association of Argentine Banks (ADEBA); and Jons Torricoexecutive director of the Argentine Taxpayers Association.

To begin with, Norberto Etchegoyen, from CERTACyC, pointed out that “we are absolutely prohibited from taking deposits, unlike bank cards, which means that we do not generate our own funding.” Explaining that they are like any commercial company, having to go to a bank to request a loan to finance their business, the executive director specified that “we assist people who cannot go to a bank, we do financial inclusion with those who do not have possibility of getting money in another way”.

“The reduction they made to us in terms of payment, tariffs and rate regulation, has put us at the limit of profitability,” he stressed and in that sense, he added: “Having a regulated rate and a free cost it is impossible to absorb uncollectibility and the financial cost, we have reached this point”. Likewise, he pointed out that “the credit card business for non-banking companies has reached a limit.” To close his presentation, Etchegoyen stated that “the project is unfeasible for us.”

Meanwhile, in representation of ATACYC, César Bastien, maintained that “it is absolutely demonstrated” that, thanks to certain advantages, with credit cards, “merchants sell more”. “Cards are humanity’s first fintech, the first financial business that needed technology to spread and be so successful,” he asserted. Likewise, he explained that surveys show that “the number of people who look at the card as an instrument to make ends meet has grown.”

“The card is a highly demanded and useful product for users and businesses, which has been highly controlled and regulated in recent years,” Bastien concluded.

From ABA, Claudio Alberto Cesario stated that “it is essential to come here and explain the reasons why we understand that these bills should not be sanctioned.” “The problem is not the tariff, it is fiscal; it is Argentina that complicates trade,” he defined. Finally, the president of the Association of Banks of Argentina clarified that “the credit card is an anchor product, but it is not a profitable product.”

In continuity, Francisco Grismondi explained that “the problem we have had in Argentina for a long time, aggravated this year, is the issue of inflation that distorts a lot of things.” “From the consumer side, it is obvious that today the card is a benefit and that there are fewer consumers with a card is a problem,” he specified. And, in summary, he said that “in cash, the collection is much lower, so the users with fewer resources will lose, the users due to lower sales and the State will lose.”

Jons Torrico, as the last speaker, emphasized that the world is discussing what is the role of the State and what is its function. In this regard, he was of the opinion that “the State has to create the conditions to generate more investment, more companies and more companies.” Along these lines, he considered that “creating a system that generates investment and greater competition leads to the generation of better prices.”