There are people who find themselves in need of obtaining or obtaining emergency money and one way to achieve this is to request a loan from individuals who work informally. These people go to the "lender" who offers a non-bank loan.

In this type of modality, money is disbursed faster than formal banks, even though the cost of this action is high interest rates. However, they represent the financial solution for people who need money quickly without having to go to traditional banks, where "paperwork" implies a whole bureaucratic process.

Others, however, use this financial mechanism to solve an economic emergency, despite how expensive it is.

This is the case of Luis Alberto Sánchez, a lender in the province of Barahona, who says that he started his work with non-bank credit at a time of desperation when he found himself without a job and with children to support.

However, he says, the informal market represents risks. “It is a delicate business and a job with many problems. You get enemies and mischievous people who will want to deceive you. In these terms, Sánchez expresses himself about the informal loan business in which he has been in for more than a decade.

He argued that working in a loan network represents an economic risk, since those who work in that business can be deceived by people who are 'badly paid'. “Nobody guarantees that the client will pay the debt,” she explained.

Sánchez has different ways of lending, but the one he uses the most is because of the level of trust he has with the client. However, he always investigates if he is a formal or informal employee, if he has a business or if he is a motoconcho, among other trades.

The “lender”: offer of money fast, but very expensive

It considers that people who have some economic income will comply with the payment term.

Interest rates

Sánchez has generated around RD$200,000 and affirms that the interest rate will depend on the amount to be loaned. “I finance money at an interest rate of 5% or 10% in monthly installments,” he explained.