Although 78% of the population claims to have a bank account, 1 in 3 Brazilians still do not feel adequately financially included, with lack of access to credit being one of the main reasons (73%) for this perception. This is what the study "From Banknote to DREX: the evolution of money in 30 years" , produced by Mercado Pago in partnership with the Brazilian Institute for Research and Data Analysis (IBPAD), shows.
According to Igor Castroviejo, commercial director of 1datapipe, a consumer insights platform using Artificial Intelligence, a large part of the reason why so many people cannot obtain credit is due to the traditional evaluation models used by institutions. "Unfortunately, credit bureaus still rely on very superficial and outdated sources of information, so many potential clients go unnoticed due to a lack of depth on the part of the companies themselves."
The executive cites some important data to illustrate this, such as the fact that more than 38% of the population works informally, according to a survey by Statista, which makes it difficult for municipalities to detect payment capacity. “Furthermore, a study by the Locomotiva Institute indicates that there are more than 4.6 million Brazilians without bank accounts, and another study, called Beyond Borders 2022/2023, showed that only 40% of adults in the country have a credit card. Therefore, millions of Brazilians are invisible to these assessments and, consequently, lack access to something as important as credit,” points out Igor Castroviejo.
As a solution to the problem, the professional suggests that financial institutions invest in technological solutions capable of including these minority groups in their analyses. "Thanks to the digital age in our country, solutions already exist on the market that provide financial institutions with valuable alternative data, such as online purchase history, consumption habits, profession, employment history, average salary, and family income of these potential clients, which can provide very good insights into the profile of each one," he points out.
Furthermore, Igor Castroviejo draws attention to the effective use of Artificial Intelligence. “It plays a fundamental role; so much so that data from the Boston Consulting Group shows that this technology brings productivity gains of up to 80% in banks, improving credit-related decision-making. This happens because, through it, it is possible to make a detailed assessment of information, identifying crucial patterns and trends in these evaluations,” he points out.
