Consigned credit: government wants to unite worker and bank on platform with 'auction' for lower interest

BRASÍLIA – The government makes the final adjustments to a platform that aims to unite, on the one hand, private sector workers interested in hiring credit and, on the other, financial institutions capable of offering these values. This will be the technological basis of the new private payroll loan, which the Ministries of Finance and Labor must propose to the National Congress in 2024.

“We were developing the entire information technology structure with Serpro and Dataprev. Now it’s ready and should come out soon, this year,” he told Estadão the Secretary of Economic Reforms of the Treasury, Marcos Pinto.

The system will follow the Unrollthe debt renegotiation program that ran until May. The idea is for banks to compete for contracting credit, in a kind of “auction” for the lowest interest rates and best terms and conditions.

“The worker will raise his hand, on this platform, and say: 'I want a payroll loan'. With this, he gives authorization to the banks to look at the data within the INSS, and then he chooses the institution that makes the best offer”, explains Pinto.

Today, the private payroll is well behind the payroll aimed at the public sector and INSS retirees. The economic team's diagnosis is that two factors hinder this type of concession.

“The first problem is that you need an agreement between the bank and the employer, which excludes practically all small and medium-sized companies. And the second is that, when the worker leaves or loses his job, he loses his job (which makes credit possible)“, explains Pinto.

With the new platform, which will be linked to e-Social and FGTS Digital, the loan will be contracted directly with the bank, without the need for an agreement with the company. “When the employer pays labor charges, he will already have to deduct the loan installment, and this goes directly to the bank”, says the secretary.

If the employee changes jobs, the debt will remain active and can be redirected to the new relationship. Furthermore, in the event of dismissal, part of the severance pay may be given as a guarantee. Currently, the limit is 10% of the balance of the Service Time Guarantee Fund (FGTS) and 100% of the fine, but there are discussions within the government to increase this amount.

In addition to small companies, the objective is to take payroll loans to audiences who currently have a limited or non-existent offer of this modality, such as domestic workers.”This (domestic worker) is an important audience. People who finance themselves with super-expensive retail loans or revolving credit cards and who will be able to take out this new type of financing”, he states.

The idea is that workers can commit up to 35% of their gross monthly remuneration to this credit, but the percentage can still be adjusted, says Pinto. Asked about the interest rate, the secretary says that the average will inevitably be higher than that observed in the INSS and civil servants' payroll, as the risk will be greater.

Regarding the possibility of defining a ceiling for this rate, Pinto says that the decision on whether or not to establish a limit and what it will be will be the responsibility of the FGTS Board of Trustees, as already provided for in current legislation.

As shown by Estadão/Broadcastalthough the banks have already expressed themselves otherwise, the possibility of having a ceiling on fees in the new design of the consigned for private sector workers.

The ministry also defends that the new consignment be linked to the end of the so-called FGTS anniversary withdrawal, a modality in which workers withdraw a portion of the fund annually. The banks created credit based on this withdrawal, which today generates billions of reais — and, therefore, they oppose the extinction of this product. The Ministry of Labor claims, however, that the annual withdrawals threaten the sustainability of the FGTS.