It surprises many that amid the collapse in sales, defaults have not increased in an Argentina famous for its public defaults as well as its private debt. But in the private sector There is a lot of work in the shadows to avoid this scenario.
It involves preventive management through software, various and sophisticated applications and highly qualified personnel. They are programs to avoid headaches or ensure that high bad debt rates do not affect creditors.
According to the latest BCRA banks report of December 2023, the system default increased by 0.5 percentage points to 3.7%. In the case of business loans, it has achieved 4.4% and in families 2.8%.
The UIA reported that due to the collapse in activity that ““There are more and more companies struggling to meet payments.”
In Brazil the default of businesses and families is higherreaches 4.9% and in Chile, according to a study by Equifax (owner of the Veraz index) 26.4% of consumers record some type of default.
For Rodolfo Cassini, with 25 years of experience in “debt collection”, the situation is far from that of 2001 “when There were banks with 30% of their portfolio in default. But the difficulties are growing,” he tells Clarín.
Cassini observes an increase in defaults in fintech which grant loans to those who do not have enough credit to access a bank line. Although he notes a 70% increase in defaults social and prepaid works.
“In January and February there are more and more difficulties until the joint elections arrive in March and the situation improves,” he underlines.
With national capital, Cassini is the founder of RC Collecting, which is dedicated to the management of collections in Argentina. It has 20 leading clients, from Buenos Aires city highways and prepaids like Medifé to Macro and Comafi banks, among others.
They specialize in defaulters’ wallets which are purchased by different entities. They have 120 employees. They were born in times when this was advertised “With cross and galley we charge anyone.” Its director, Cecilia Cafferata, underlines that things have changed and today the approach is proactive.
“We simplify shortcuts. It starts in advance via WhatsApp, SMS and email, remembering the expiry date. It is an automatic service linked to a payment button. When faced with delays there are different strategies, “she explains.
There are three types of default: early and lasts up to 90 daysand the prejudicial when non-payment varies from six months to a year. Then the late.
RC Colleting is the market leader and its activity is concentrated for 20% on early debts and the remaining part is divided between extrajudicial and late debts. In the market there are around 24 companies that usually share customers and are grouped in an industry chamber.
There are companies that are going strong like Wecross, which has Mercado Libre, Coca Cola and the banks Supervielle, Patagonia and BBVA. Gedco is another that also serves Mercado Libre, Edesur and Galicia, to name a few.
“We are very prepared always negotiate without aggression in what we consider friendly collections to achieve a win-win outcome on both sides of the counter. “It is not the job of suffocating the debtor” define.
“When the debt is due, a message is sent to the debtor to offer them an opportunity with benefits too eliminate long-term, interest-free financing,” comments Cafferata.
There are all kinds of situations in times of virtual scams. The most common are those of children who take out loans in the name of one of their parents and those parents didn’t notice or those who resorted to loans and the They were fired from their jobs.
“We believe it is essential to find fair and equitable solutions for both our customers and our debtors, thus enabling a recovery process that is effective and sensitive to the current circumstances,” they underline in the face of the difficult months ahead.
Source: Clarin
