Why is the customer service of banks in Chile and Argentina so different (and what it reveals about their savings)

In one, they give you candy and coffee, in the other, they give you an infinite list of requirements and forms to fill out.

In Chilean banks, in general, they ask you with a smile that you feel two minutes; you wait while listening to a lounge music; high ceilings and huge windows allow light and air to circulate; and the floor is new, clean, upholstered.

On the other hand, going to the bank in Argentina is part of a tortuous journey in the bureaucratic world; they are almost always full, full of stressed and dissatisfied people; Losing the trip is always possible; the space is dirty, cloistered, graffiti; And most of the time, an overloaded security officer scolds you because you're looking at the cell phone, because you're making a mistake, because you're wearing a hat.

It may be because of idiosyncrasy: Chileans are politically correct and tend to seek a kind treatment, while Argentines, and especially in Buenos Aires, use insult and the complaint as impersonal communication tools.

But, as I've talked to several experts, this actually has a more concrete root: the status of two dissimilar financial systems that, in addition, reveal the economic model of each of these countries.

The list of the 25 best banks in the region, established each year by the specialized magazine América Economía, is composed – in its 2017 edition – of banks from Chile (5), Mexico (5), Peru (4) and Brazil (3). ), Colombia (3), Ecuador (2), El Salvador (1), Guatemala (1) and Uruguay (1).

There is not a single bank in Argentina.

Perhaps nothing reveals so much the contrast between the two financial experiences as Banco Santander's so-called Work / Café, sophisticated, modern and bright workspaces with a cafeteria that allows banking transactions. In Chile, there are 50; in Argentina, one.

In general, experts say that the Chilean banking system was the model for the entire region: it was the first to develop mbadively, in the 1980s it developed paradigmatic credit instruments such as Unity development and maintains macroeconomic stability. three decades that allows for greater innovation.

In this country, bank deposits represent 67% of gross domestic product and credits, 90%, according to the figures of the Latin American Federation of Banks. It is one of the highest proportions of the region.

Between a crisis and the other

In Argentina, however, deposits amount to 30% of GDP and loans to 18%, reflecting one of the least-financed companies in Latin America.

In the early days of Mauricio Macri's government, financial inclusion was about to begin, but today, with an economy in recession and interest rates above 50% in order to contain the devaluation of the peso, the context remains unfavorable: the credits are rare and expensive, to obtain an account or a card is very difficult and the banks, in general, are not encouraged to improve their services.

According to several experts consulted by BBC Mundo, the historical instability that has known the Argentine economy – broken down by inflation, deficits and abrupt pattern changes – has prevented the development of 39, a robust financial system.

The last major crisis, in 2001, was marked by the "corralito", a restriction on the withdrawal of species that persists in the memory of many people who are wary of the financial system and prefer to save, if possible, otherwise.

With the permanent possibility of a peso devaluation, the Argentineans prefer to capitalize or at least protect their savings by buying dollars rather than putting them in the bank.

"In the absence of a significant social base in the (financial) system and profits derived from inflation or interest rates, there has been no competitive process that forces banks to leave the retailer, "says Nicolás Sanvitale, economist and badyst of financial institutions.

"Most of the clients (in Argentina) are captive clients, they have an account because it's their turn, because they're paid for it, for example, but not because they're wish, or because the bank encourages them to be part of the economy and to generate profits ".

In Argentina, only cash payments are accepted or, despite their illegal nature, an additional percentage if paid with a card. Not only applies to businesses, but to the doctor, the car dealership, the real estate agent.

The paradigm, with criticisms

After the 1982 debt crisis, which affected most Latin American countries, Chile has put in place a neoliberal economic model that has not undergone changes until today. However, unlike Argentina, which oscillates between liberalism and protectionism.

"(In Chile), the reforms implemented have fostered financial intervention, which is one of the pillars of the economy, as investors' savings are channeled and a national consensus has been reached to promote economic stability, which is reflected in: orderly budgetary accounts and strong and consistent growth, "said Aldo Lema, an economist and badyst in the Chilean financial sector.

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"This has led to increased demand for financial services and, with the creation of the Banking Act and the Central Bank Act and different superintendencies, Chile has not been able to repeat a crisis" he explains.

Chile was the first country in the region to have credit cards linked to trading houses, such as Falabella or Ripley. "There was a process of financial inclusion across the multi-stores that required banks to gradually adapt to these sectors by improving their services and expanding their activities to lower sectors," he said. Lema.

The expert cites as an example the success of a system according to which today, in Chile, a 35-year-old worker can access a house by paying only 10% of the total.

Credits are a fundamental part of the way of life in Chile: it is the most indebted population of the region, with 25% of the monthly income of each Chilean intended on average to pay debts, according to the Central Bank .

According to critics, this entails risks: falling into default in Chile excludes you from the system of work or health. Many Chileans feel "enslaved" by the debt, because without it, it is difficult to be part of the system in general. Pensions and education are mediated by the logic of financial capitalization, which for many benefits only the richest.

But although you can pay with little money in Chile, you can live well in the present by paying in the future.

Because this social system so attached to finance, which for many is a perverse incentive, is to give you candy at the bank in Chile. And in the absence of that, it is that in Argentina, going to the bank is not really pleasant.