This article aims to analyze the characteristics, limitations and contradictions involving financial technology companies (fintechs) and traditional banks in Brazil. The paper describes the two new categories aimed at regulating fintechs in Brazil: the so-called Direct Credit Company (Sociedade de Crédito Direto) and the Personal Loan Company (Sociedade de Empréstimo entre Pessoas). The paper challenges the idea that financial technology inevitably introduces competition into the financial market, as it describes relevant mechanisms of cooperation between financial technology companies and traditional banks, with potentially high gains for both of them. Finally, using the data provided by the Central Bank, we compare interest rates charged by a local fintech and by its major shareholders, which are traditional banks. Although our analysis is still exploratory, it shows that the fintech controlled by large traditional banks charges higher interest rates than their controllers, suggesting a fruitful research agenda to investigate whether this occurs systematically or not.
“Finance companies” (technically, credit, financing, and investment companies - SCFIs) coexist with large banks within economic conglomerates. Using historical series of interest rates, we tested the hypothesis that SCFIs belonging to banking groups and other subsidiary institutions (non-major banks) would focus on more vulnerable customers, who would accept to contract credit at higher interest rates than those practiced by large banks of the same group, in the same credit modalities. We conclude that our data capture evidence of the practice of higher interest rates by subsidiaries (SCFIs or subsidiary banks) comparing to the respective main banks, which may reflect the credit specialization in certain niche markets; however, we also find situations in which major banks charge higher interest rates than their subsidiaries. Furthermore, we present the main resolutions of the National Monetary Council (CMN) that regulate SCFIs and highlight the SCFIs' relationships with banks, banking correspondents, and franchises. Finally, we examine the equity profile of SCFIs according to the following categories: (i) financial institutions linked to one of the five major banks; (ii) financials linked to banking conglomerates, except those of the five major banks; (iii) financial institutions linked to non-banking economic groups; (iv) independent financial companies.
O artigo apresenta o resultado de levantamento empírico feito por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas a proprietários e empregados de “financeiras” e de correspondentes bancários no município de Ribeirão Preto, estado de São Paulo, no primeiro semestre de 2019. O texto problematiza os achados qualitativos da pesquisa em três núcleos de análise: a) como se organizam e se remuneram as empresas conhecidas popularmente como “financeiras”; b) considerando a abundante estrutura de agências bancárias no município de coleta dos dados, quais disfunções podem decorrer do acesso da população mais vulnerável às estratégias das “financeiras”; c) como se estabelece o paradoxo de que o crédito consignado seja o principal produto ofertado pelas “financeiras”. Os achados sugerem a adequação de maior controle regulatório nas rotinas de comissionamento a novos contratos, distribuição geográfica e capilaridade de agentes e controle social e legal do instrumento do crédito consignado.
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