Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Korea hit for predatory lending scheme

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Korea (MBFSK), is being criticized for predatory lending practices, offering high-interest-rate loans to new customers after borrowing at low-interest rates from its German headquarters.

According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, MBFSK, the South Korean unit of Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s financial and mobility services division, achieved an operating income of 85.4 billion won and an operating profit of 28.9 billion won in the third quarter.

Its operating profit-to-sales ratio is estimated at 33.84 percent.

MBFSK’s numbers are far higher than that of Hyundai Capital Services Inc., an auto finance subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group.

While Hyundai Capital’s third-quarter operating income was 45 times more than that of MBFSK, its operating profit-to-sales ratio stood at a mere 10.11 percent.

According to industry watchers, BFSK’s overwhelmingly high operating profit-to-sales ratio is because of its high-interest-rate loans to new customers in return for offering discounted car prices.

MBFSK uses funds borrowed from headquarters to finance the loans.

Customers using MBFSK’s loan products have to pay an annual interest rate of up to 9.68 percent, far higher than those offered by other domestic credit finance companies.

In the third quarter, MBFSK raised 1.15 trillion won of funds, or 76.87 percent of its total for the year, from its German headquarters at a very low-interest rate of 1.02 percent.