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According to the president of Davivienda, banks are committed to dealing with the crisis and, therefore, are not thinking about profits
Ximena González – [email protected]
Although the covid-19 pandemic has been leaving a series of consequences and adverse economic effects for many companies, the leaders of three of the country’s largest banks, Juan Carlos Mora, president of Bancolombia; Efraín Forero, president of Davivienda; and Jaime Alberto Upegui, president of Scotiabank – Colpatria, concluded that the crisis has allowed for greater bank penetration and for more people to adopt digital banking.
“The big change we are having with the covid-19 is the digital adoption of customers, this is a transformation that is going at an impressive speed. The invitation is to formalize Colombia and that we use the simple regime so that we are banked, “said Upegui during the LR Forum” The banking sector and its commitment to businessmen. “
However, the most important challenge in the midst of the covid-19 crisis is that Colombians continue with the culture of payment and the fulfillment of their credits, since the placement of new loans is carried out with the resources of commercial banks and with State guarantees.
Faced with this issue, the directors clarified that the banks put the money for the loans they grant and that the guarantor of these is the National Guarantee Fund (FNG). In addition, they highlighted that, traditionally, the users of the financial system (natural and legal persons) have had an important fulfillment of their obligations and expect that, despite the difficulties generated by the situation, clients contribute and continue this trend.
“We have been acting, but not with state resources, it is with bank resources, and being a credit, we are obliged to do the analysis that we always do so that the company can pay. We should not encourage giving credits that are not going to be paid, if it is done, the correct path is direct subsidy and we must very well separate these two models, ”said Forero.
In this, the president of Bancolombia agreed, who stressed that, “they do not give us money, that money is put by the banks, what we have are guarantees that, if at the end of the period for which we lend the client does not pay us, we can go to the FNG to pay us 90% ”.
For this reason, Forero explained that the National Government has not given them resources, but guarantees and credit guarantees for the people. In addition, he stressed that users must differentiate state subsidies and access options to new credits with government guarantees through the FNG.
The president of Davivienda added that they have always had very intense competition in the sector and that they have been lowering interest rates significantly so that users have access to financing. “I would like to deny that we have raised rates; on the contrary, we have been lowering them significantly. We are not thinking about profits at the moment, these rates barely manage to cover the costs that we have more than we are going to have, because we are in a very turbulent world and that is why the profits of the banks are already very committed “, said.
Access to credits
On the difficulty of accessing the credits that many users have expressed, Mora affirmed that banks continue with their commitment to solve the facilities to access loans, but without neglecting the risk and stability of the system, since commercial banks must continue to carry out analysis studies for the placement with guarantees of their own resources.
“We designed a rapid quota approval process and we have 295,000 for SMEs, we are not using a normal procedure, we generate a quick process to access this line with the FNG. Likewise, we have a duty vis-à-vis the FNG and vis-à-vis our own operation that the credits be placed to companies that can pay them, ”said the director.
In this regard, the president of Bancoldex, Javier Díaz, stressed that the resources allocated by the public entity aim to reduce the burdens of SMEs and large companies through better financing benefits, but reiterated that they are limited lines. “The Bancoldex lines leave for certain quotas, they are limited aid and go until the quotas are exhausted. What we receive from the State is a contribution. Public opinion has created the idea that resources are unlimited, but our lines are available until resources are exhausted, “Díaz stressed.
The executive added that before they are finished, they will have more than 20 regional lines for another $ 600,000 million.
The president of Davivienda also referred to the people who are reported and who need access to credits due to the covid-19 crisis.
“We have sought to create new mechanisms so that the reported clients can re-enter the financial system; In these times it becomes a little more difficult, but we are working with the help of some allies to be able to reach certain types of entrepreneurs and offer them the resources. ”
The 4×100 myth
One of the great myths that exists is that banks get rich with 4×1,000. Therefore, the bankers took advantage of their participation in the LR Forum to clarify what really happens with this tax.
The president of Bancolombia pointed out that, “4×1,000 is a tax like any other and the one that benefits is the State, we as banks all we do is collect it, we are the vehicle through which the Government collects this tax. With the 4×1,000 we do not benefit, but only make a collection and deliver it to the State so that it manages the resources. ”
With this coincided, the president of Scotiabank – Colpatria, who added that due to this myth people assume that banking will have an additional cost and therefore decides not to do so. “This tax does not benefit banks, it is part of the State’s resources,” he added.
State guarantees
The president of Davivienda, Efraín Forero, said that what the Government has given to the banks are not resources, but guarantees and credit guarantees for the people. “We are going to use the guarantees to be able to deliver those credits, we are working to reach all SMEs, micro-businesses and the independent. We have been acting, but not with state resources, it is with bank resources. ” In addition, he indicated that at the moment the banks are not thinking about profits because their resources are committed to aid in the face of the crisis.
Digital change and banking
According to Jaime Upegui, president of Scotiabank – Colpatria, what is currently being done in the financial system is generating an extension of quotas and payments for companies and people who have had cash problems. “The relief program has benefited nearly seven million Colombians.” Upegui stressed that with the arrival of the covid-19 the digital and technological change has been very important. “The invitation is to use that simple regime and take advantage of these tools so that we are increasingly banked.”
Quick access to lines of credit
The president of Bancolombia, Juan Carlos Mora, pointed out during his participation in the forum that, “they do not give us money for loans, we put that money from the banks; what we have is guarantees that, if at the end of the period for which we lend the client does not pay us, we can go to the National Guarantee Fund (FNG) to pay us 90% ”. He also highlighted that they designed a quick quota approval process and that they already have 295,000 of them for SMEs: “we generated a quick process to access this line with the FNG,” he added.
Bancoldex mobilizes resources
Javier Díaz Fajardo, president of Bancoldex, stressed that “we take the resources from investors and those are the ones that go to the first-tier banks to deliver to businessmen; There has been disinformation, since it is thought that all the money has been put in by the State and what we do is a mobilization of resources that come from the public. We receive a contribution from the State, which is less than 5% to compensate for a lower rate and for it to be transmitted to employers; We have told them to lower rates by up to 2% and they are doing so. ”
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