Various analyzes show that those with more education are less likely to fall into unemployment or informality. For this reason, one of the most common goals of Colombians is to strengthen their educational level and, for this, they request a line of credit at the bank of their choice. LR conducted a survey with the main financial entities of the country, in order to capture the interest rates for 2022 in this segment.
The State, through Icetex, offers reimbursable financial aid to benefit students with academic merits and, today, this entity maintains the most favorable effective annual rates on the market. For example, for professional technical, technological and university study credits, it has an EA rate of 11.6%, with different financing options, depending on the time the student prefers and the amount they want to pay while studying.
Now, not all banking entities have the same conditions for this type of loan, so it is very important to ask about the minimum and maximum amounts that they finance.
Bancolombia, with 13.49%; Itau, with 18.16%; and Serfinanza with 18.16%, have the lowest rates in this category. Some of its benefits are the payment limits that go to 12 months, offering from $700,000 up to 25 Current Legal Monthly Minimum Wages, with a response in minutes and an online disbursement.
“We believe that access to education is closely linked to the country’s development, which is why at the bank we have a fast-approval line of educational credit, which finances up to 100% of enrollment for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Likewise, we have agreements with universitiesoffering special benefits to allow the youngest to reach their projects”, said Zulma Muñoz, risk manager of Banco Serfinanza.
Although there are companies that lend each semester the money that the client needs to return in that period, other banks provide the amount requested in a single disbursement (the money that is equivalent to the years of study of the career), and the person has to pay the credit in a period greater than or equal to the period of study.
This case corresponds to entities such as Davivienda, which among its options maintains a maximum payment term between 61 and 72 months, with an EA rate of 18.99%.
“At Davivienda we manage the Mobile Credit in Five Minutes, with the most complete portfolio in the country and a reference in the region, in which from their cell phone, customers can request their credit without further paperwork, have the disbursement quickly and make use of their money for what they want, among that, allocate to their education”, reported the entity.
If you are interested in accessing these services, Banco de Bogotá, Bbva, Bancamía, Av Villas, Bancoomeva and Banco Pichincha also have these lines with a maximum effective annual rate of 13.49%, 26.49%, 27 .45%, 21.75%, 19.56% and 25.99%, respectively.
In addition to making a detailed review of each option on the market, to choose the option that best suits your needs and your borrowing capacity, experts say that if the interested party is taking a short-term loan, and has a rate close to to that of the credit card, it is better to consider a cheaper line of indebtedness.
Finally, they suggest the student go to the credit department of their higher education institution.
“In recent years, universities have designed accompaniment programs in the financing of tuition fees, which are complemented by offers from banks and cooperatives. This has allowed greater inclusion in the financing of education, with better interest rates and in many cases special discounts for graduates and agreements,” said financial analyst Diego Fernando Palencia.
The filing of new credits increased 43% annually, according to a study
A TransUnion report revealed that new loan originations, a measure of new accounts opened, increased to 1.2 million in the month of October 2021, an increase of 43% over the same month in 2020. and 0.2% compared to 2019. The behavior of the indicator was explained by credit cards, free investment loans and housing loans, which increased 121%, 41% and 30% respectively.