Creditas, a provider of online secured loans in Brazil, has raised $16 million from the asset-backed securitization market and will use the proceeds to fund auto loan refinancings; the firm partnered with Empirica Investimentos Gestao de Recursos Ltda to launch the securitized investment portfolio, FIDC Empirica Creditas Auto; Creditas seeks to capitalize on an auto loan refinancing market opportunity that has seen increased risk from higher defaults with decreased lending from traditional banks; Brazil reports secured personal credit accounts for 1% of the country’s outstanding loans; Creditas plans to offer auto refinancing at monthly rates of 1.99% to 3.65% for an annual rate of approximately 37% which compares to bank rates annually of 120%. Source
