Auxílio Brasil loan turns R$3,000 into debt of more than R$5,000

A loan of BRL 3,046.54, almost five times the value of the new Auxílio Brasil of BRL 600, can turn into a debt of BRL 5,760. The simulation made by a finance company considers the assignable margin of up to 40% of the readjusted benefit, which starts to be paid on Tuesday (9).

If the beneficiary of the income transfer program completes the credit application, he will be able to spend the next two years receiving the Auxílio Brasil with a discount of R$ 240 – the payroll loan differential is precisely the payroll deduction, which reduces, for those who grants the credit, the risk of default.

This same loan, if granted under the rules of the INSS (National Social Security Institute), which has a maximum interest of 2.14% per month, would cost the citizen, after two years, R$ 3,927.36. He would pay 24 installments of R$ 163.64.

Law 14,431, which allowed this credit operation, was published in this Thursday’s edition (4) of the “Official Union Gazette”, but a few days ago, financial and credit operators were already collecting previous registrations from citizens in search of a loan, as shown report from Sheet.

Among the larger banks, the market expectation is that only public institutions, Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal, will offer the modality.

BB says it is still analyzing the possibility of operating the credit line. On Thursday, Caixa did not respond. Just over ten days ago, the bank said it was waiting for the regulation to be published.

Itaú, Santander, BMG and C6 have already defined that they will not have the loan for the beneficiaries of the income transfer program. Bradesco says that it is evaluating, but that in principle it should not operate the line.

If interest is moderate among financial institutions, among citizens, the matter seems urgent, says Edison Costa, president of Anesp (National Association of Professionals and Companies Promoting Credit and Correspondents).

“Since the announcement, people have started going to stores daily to ask about this consignment.”

The monthly interest rate, according to the entity, should be around 5%, a little below or a little above, says the leader.

In publications and advertisements on social, financial and credit promoting networks that are collecting pre-registrations to offer loans, they speak of rates of 4.99% per month, equivalent to 79% per year. In the simulation made by the report, the rates predicted during the initial registration were 5.88% per month, reaching 98% per year.

“Is it an optimal rate? No, it’s not, but it’s a short-term operation, that’s what companies will be able to do”, says the Aneps representative.

For Idec (Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection), whoever decides to offer the payroll loan to the beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil should do so with the Selic as a reference for interest. Adjusted on Wednesday (3), the economy’s basic interest rate is 13.75% per year.

“Is better [a taxa de juros mensais de 5%] than the beneficiary having no alternative and taking a credit with a rate of six, up to seven times higher, whether in a loan for a negative person, or with a loan shark”, says Edison Costa.

Ads on social networks are similar, not least because the assignable margin –the percentage of income that can be compromised by a loan– is the same for all beneficiaries of the new Auxílio Brasil. Most talk about granting up to R$ 2,600, but simulations made by Sheet ​on financial websites reached more than BRL 3,000.

These projections considered a monthly bite of R$ 240, a value that today corresponds to 40% of the R$ 600 of Auxilio Brasil. However, the benefit will only be paid in this amount until December. In January, it will be BRL 400, when the assignable margin will be limited to BRL 160.

The Reclame Aqui website already registers complaints involving the Auxílio Brasil payroll loan. Customers report attempts to cancel the credit request and even dissatisfaction with the pre-approved amount in some institutions – the previous registrations would not be considering the total margin allowed by the federal government.

Pan, one of the financial institutions whose banking correspondents began pre-registration a few days after the text was approved by the Senate, says it is preparing to offer the credit. At the moment, the bank says it awaits the effective regulation of the modality to define rates and terms.

Aneps calculates that payroll-deductible concessions can generate around R$ 2 billion. The estimate considers the approximately 1.2 million payroll-deductible loans paid monthly to INSS retirees and pensioners, which amount to approximately R$1 billion.

In addition to the Selic as a ceiling for annual interest, Idec defends that only public banks are authorized to grant the loan. The restriction, says the entity, could minimize the risk of indebtedness of beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil.

For the association that represents credit companies, the criticisms of these payroll-deductibles confuse protection with guardianship. “It’s almost taboo to talk about it, but it’s much better for him to take out a loan with a controlled interest and make good use of the money”, says Costa, from Aneps.

“Our guidance is for correspondents to be very careful and explain in detail how this loan works, considering that it is an audience that was outside the financial system recently.”

The operationalization of the consigned in the Aid is still pending regulation. The publication of the law only formalized its existence.

In the same legislation, the government also increased the assignable margin for INSS beneficiaries. The income commitment limit is now 35% for loans, 5% for payroll-deductible credit cards and 5% for payroll-deductible benefit cards.

This Thursday, a provisional measure granted the same adjustment in the limit of the payroll to federal servers.

For these loans, banks do not have the option of granting the higher margin or not. Once the right is created, the beneficiaries are entitled and even those who already have active loans can contract new credits, as long as the monthly amount stays within the new margins.