My points are stuck, the problem is that one day the bank that issued my credit card changed the system and to exchange them I have to go to a web page, which I usually do not remember and when I decide to visit it requires me to invest a lot of time, make an extensive search of my user. Once I bought a vacuum with my points, but they go several times that expire and ending this column I will visit the page to see if I buy anything else.
Banks and transfer… never a good option?
The bad thing is that my bank does not have agreements to transfer the points to another program like Club Premier that I use more. The situation has led me to want to cancel the card to request a new one in which the points are easy to accumulate. Another feature that I ask of my card is that the annuity is not so expensive in terms of the concierge services, I almost never use them, the Total Annual Cost (CAT) does not matter much to me given that my plastic is one of the eight million 863 thousand that is totalero, that is to say, every month I pay the full balance.
A new card that can meet interests
I have been trying for months to have this new card that meets my interests, I have not had time to go to the bank, the promoters in the commercial plazas give me distrust. I know first of all that in some entities in the north of the country organized crime goes with the promoters and pays them for the data of those who request the plastics. If they refuse to grant them, it is better that they do not appear in the following days. I do not know if in the CDMX they sell the data, it scares me. I am sensitive in the opening process, years ago I spoke to one of the largest banks to find out if they had an answer on my credit card application and the person who answered told me that the account executives had gone through the cakes I thought that if it was complicated to open a card it would be more difficult to process some clarification, I still think the same.
Technology is the key
My experience makes me think that there is an opportunity for improvement and although there are banks in Mexico that have invested a lot in optimizing their technology, I believe that the vast majority is susceptible to be shaken by the large technology companies that have a lot of experience in accompanying their users. . Apple presented its Apple Card developed in conjunction with Goldman Sachs, several analyzes say it is not as revolutionary as one might think, but does not charge commissions, reimburses up to 2% if paid with Apple Pay and 1% with plastic, in addition to works with software related to personal finance programs. For the technological companies to venture into the financial sector is not easy, originate credits is complicated and more to cross the regulatory pits by country.
Other players
A player like Apple is formidable, since it has a fairly large number of potential users, only in the last three years it sold about 650 million iPhones and at the end of its last quarter it registered 245 billion dollars in cash, with that you can swim backwards the regulations. Another example is Brazil’s Nubank, which has become a global benchmark. It started with the Colombian David Vélez, who launched a credit card in 2013 in the very difficult regulatory environment in Brazil. Today Nubank has a valuation of four thousand 100 million dollars, has five million cardholders, has achieved more than one and a half million accounts. More scary is Tencent, has WeChat Pay, invested 180 million dollars. With fintech and CoDi laws I think we are less than five years away from a shake-up of banks.
Also published on Medium.