Despite high interest rates, credit card use grows 50% in twelve months

Even with an increase in the interest rate, the balance of credit card transactions grew 50.1% in 2022, points out the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB). According to the monetary and credit statistics of the BCB, released this Wednesday (27), in April this year, the amount spent on credit cards by Brazilians reached R$ 419.5 billion. An increase of 2% for the month, compared to March.

Also according to the data, the cash and installment modalities increased by 2.8% and 19.9%, respectively, in 2022. However, the revolving interest of the credit card, when debts made in this type of credit are not paid correctly, it increased by 23% this year alone.

According to the economist and professor at IBMEC, Gilberto Braga, the use of credit cards and the non-payment of this type of debt indicates that consumers are using the cards to pay debts and basic bills.

“So this ends up being a way for you to contract debts, and in the low-income population, in the face of high inflation, it is very common for you to contract new credit to pay off an old debt, so this may be happening, effectively.” specialist.

According to Braga, easy access to credit cards has a major role in this increase. For him, the granting of credit cards has been greatly facilitated due to competition between new digital banks and fintechs.

At the press conference to present the data, the head of the Statistics Department of the BCB, Fernando Rocha, highlighted that the growth in interest rates for the month of April were mainly in transactions for individuals. For him, the cycle of increase in basic interest generates the observed increase.

Also according to Rocha, the growth of the service and commerce sector and the reduction of unemployment stimulate the increase in consumption. “A portion of this consumption is made on the cash credit card, and becomes revolving credit. When we look at the monthly data, cash credit operations in April reached almost R$ 320 billion”, highlights the coordinator.

Following the trend of increasing revolving credit cards, the number of credit card defaulters grew 1.3% this year alone. According to the BCB, 39.5% of defaults related to credit cards are due to revolving interest.