For 3 out of 10 Colombians, their family income decreased

In its most recent study on the financial consumer in Colombia, TransUnion showed that for 3 out of 10 Colombians, their family income decreased, as well as their ability to save and their expectations for debt payment, among other findings.

(How are the most food insecure households made up).

The closing of the first half of the year shows Colombians with lower expectations regarding their ability to pay their obligations and greater use of their available credit.

It is also worth noting that during the second quarter of 2023 there was an increase in digital fraud attempts, which grew in that period from 35% to 40%.

Here are the main findings of the Consumer Pulse study:

– 34% of Colombians indicated that they will not be able to pay at least one of their current obligations, compared to 31% a quarter ago.

– However, the majority of consumers indicated they had plans to pay their current obligations and only 4% indicated that they did not know how to pay, the latter compared to 9% in the second quarter of 2022.

– The percentage of Colombians who were able to save fell 3 percentage points (pp) in this second quarter, from 24% in the first quarter to 21%.

– In addition, 21% increased their use of available credit, 2 pp higher than in the first quarter, potentially offsetting the decline in reported revenues.

– 40% of those surveyed stated that they had been the object of an attempted fraud, higher than the 35% in the first quarter of the year.

– The most frequent scheme of digital fraud is that of text messages intended to deceive you into revealing data with 49%, followed by telephone calls 42%.

– Almost 3 out of 10 respondents (29%) stated that their family income decreased in the last three months, 1 pp above the first quarter of the year.

– In addition, 35% of consumers surveyed indicated that their household finances were worse than planned, compared to 32% in the previous quarter.

– In line with reported income declines, a higher percentage of respondents indicated that someone in their household had lost their job (25%, up from 22% in Q1 2023), in addition to having someone in their household who owned a small business that went out of business or sold out (8%, up from 5% in the first quarter of the year).

(Why is it that household spending has had a slight recovery).

– Regarding payment obligations, a higher percentage of consumers indicated that they could not pay at least one of their current obligations in full (34%, compared to 31% in the first quarter of the year). To pay, people responded:

-37% said they would use the money from savings, compared to 41% in the first quarter of the year.

-30% indicated that they would borrow from friends and family (an increase of 2 pp from the first quarter of the year).

-30% expected to pay at least partial amounts (vs. 26%) and 26% planned to refinance or renegotiate current payments or rates (down from 28%) to help pay their current obligations.

-The proportion of consumers who indicated that they would use the available space on their credit card increased from 10% in the first quarter of the year to 15% in the second quarter, as did those who said they would open a new personal loan (21%, compared to at 18%) to help pay.

(To face crises, four out of 10 households got into debt).

-Only 4% indicated that they did not know how they would pay their current obligations, compared to 7% in the first quarter of the year and 9% in the second quarter of 2022.

– 47% of those surveyed indicated that they would reduce discretionary expenses (dining out, travel, entertainment) in the coming months, 27% expect to increase them and 24% will stay the same.

Colombians continued to be concerned about macroeconomic dynamics, particularly inflation, employment, and rising interest rates. Concerns around employment have gained ground in recent months, with a higher percentage listing employment as one of their top three financial concerns in Q2 2023 compared to Q1 2023 (51% vs. 48%). .

TransUnion’s quarterly survey explores how consumers’ personal finances have changed and what changes they expect in the future. The study measures changes in consumer perspectives and behaviors based on dynamics of income, debt, and identity theft.

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