Inflation and rate hikes have not had an impact on loans granted by Mercado Pago

The high inflation and the rise in interest rates have so far not had an impact on Mercado Pago credit customers in Mexico.

Pedro Rivas, general director of Mercado Pago México, acknowledges that the inflationary issue is impacting the entire economy, but in the case of this fintech -the largest in Mexico and Latin America- they have always been cautious when granting credit.

“We have been, from the beginning, very cautious in the way we grant, we do not get ‘sweetened’ when it comes to taking out the credit product and based on that we have been able to maintain relatively constant flows, constant supply, rates similar to where they were before. So we feel very comfortable that the Mercado Pago product and the Mercado Pago credit is a product that will continue to evolve and will continue to be available to most users.”

According to the manager, today in Mercado Pago México, there are more than 10 million lines of credit open, which does not mean that they have all been taken. Most, he explains, are credits for small amounts.

In an interview, he details that in Mercado Pago they have different credit products, but the most typical, and relatively low, is around 2,000 pesos, which people normally use to pay for services within the same application, although they also You can use it for other things.

“We believe that there are many people in Mexico and throughout the region (of Latin America) who are creditworthy, but who have not taken out their card or it has become difficult. We offer a very simple solution to users.”

He specifies that a good job is done to be able to attract users and identify them, and to know if they can be granted relatively small credits. Based on this, he points out, they know if the client pays on time and trust is built on that, in addition to giving them a very clear outlet for their basic needs to pay for services such as gas, water or send money.

We do not give 200,000 pesos to anyone. We start with low credits, and based on this knowledge of the client and payments, we are expanding our credit lines further. But the idea is that we are very pulverized, we have millions of users, so the credits are distributed and we know if the users are worthy of credit, ”he emphasizes.

Mercado Pago grants credits to users of the platform, but also to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs) that sell their products on Mercado Libre. The latter receive larger amounts.

Potential for cryptocurrency market

Mercado Pago recently added to its application the option for users to buy or sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcon and Ethereum.

Although he acknowledges that today there is high volatility in this market, Pedro Rivas says that Mercado Pago’s commitment to this segment is long-term.

“We believe that this is a commitment to the future, in which we want to offer all kinds of options to our users so that they have electronic money that works for them on a day-to-day basis.”

He mentions that in Mexico there are already 12 million people who have bought a cryptocurrency, and only in the first weeks that Mercado Pago launched this option here, 150,000 transactions of this type were made.

eduardo.juarez@eleconomista.mx