NewsWhore
05-29-2009, 04:10 PM
Writing in Diario Libre, Alejandro Fernandez responds to US President Barack Obama's pursuit of better credit card conditions for US consumers, by saying that the DR government should also look into getting better conditions for Dominican credit card holders. He says that according to the last report from the Superintendence of Banks, more than 1.5 million credit cards are in circulation in the DR, meaning that about a million Dominicans have credit cards. He estimates that 45% of the purchases made with the cards are financed, calculating credit at RD$9 billion. He comments that the average 71.4% annual interest rate charged by Dominican banks on credit card charges not paid within 30 days means that the credit cards generate charges of around RD$1.5 billion. Then he suggests adding to that figure RD$3.5 billion in commissions for credit cards which means the credit cards generate profits of RD$5 billion for Dominican banks or 50% of the net earnings the banks received in 2008.
While applauding the banks for their good business acumen, Fernandez goes on to urge the authorities to publish the actual interest rates that the banks are charging, so that consumers can have a real idea of what they are paying and make better decisions when using the cards. "I denounce that the cost of the cards has no relation to the principal cost, that of money. I denounce that without requesting it or expecting it, they charge us for services never used," he writes in the newspaper. And he says that he does not speak up for the thousands who have been seen their credit history ruined, and are just "buried in the tomb of silence".
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
While applauding the banks for their good business acumen, Fernandez goes on to urge the authorities to publish the actual interest rates that the banks are charging, so that consumers can have a real idea of what they are paying and make better decisions when using the cards. "I denounce that the cost of the cards has no relation to the principal cost, that of money. I denounce that without requesting it or expecting it, they charge us for services never used," he writes in the newspaper. And he says that he does not speak up for the thousands who have been seen their credit history ruined, and are just "buried in the tomb of silence".
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)