tbi bank survey: One in three Romanians wants to get a loan in the next 12 months

Almost 62% are thinking about a personal needs loan for main plans like renovating their house, buying a car or getting domestic appliances

Romanians’ need for finance has increased in the last year, as rising prices have forced most of them to get more money for their projects or to buy the goods they need to have a more comfortable life. In this context, more than a third of Romanians (34.3%) want to take out a loan in the coming months, of which almost 62% want a personal needs loan, according to a tbi bank survey among 1,057 respondents across the country.

Almost 20% of the respondents want to use the money to renovate their houses, about 18% need the financing to buy a car, and almost 12% want to buy household appliances. Also, for the majority of respondents (63,8%), the favorable terms are the most important element when choosing the bank to obtain financing, while 28% say that credibility of the institution is a critical factor.

”Favourable credit terms are extremely important for consumers, which is to be expected. Today’s consumers are much better informed and much more careful about details than they were 10 years ago. We operate in a competitive market, which has a beneficial effect on how people can obtain finance on increasingly favourable terms”, said Gergana Staykova, Market Leader, Romania, tbi bank.

More than 40% of the respondents said that they need financing of up to 10.000 lei, while almost 50% think they would fully pay the loan in maximum 3 years. About 90% of the subjects said that they can repay a loan given the current economic context and the family’s financial situation, although some of them would have some difficulties.

In a case where they would no longer be able to pay the loans, almost 35% of the respondents said that they would ask for help from the relatives, almost 17% would choose to make another credit, and 4,6% would give up paying.

The tbi bank survey on Romanians’ perception of the financing was conducted nationwide in August-September 2023 via the iVox platform, on a total sample of 1,057 internet users in Romania. Slightly more than 50% of the participants are women, little less than 75% are at most 45 years old and more than 87% live in urban areas.

About tbi bank

𝐭𝐛𝐢 bank is a mobile-first challenger bank in South East Europe and regional leader in alternative payment solutions, building an ecosystem by combining financing and shopping to address customers’ needs. It focuses on helping merchants to grow their business as well as providing consumers with financial products and services that make their lives easier. Currently operates in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Germany, and Lithuania. Through various digital channels and trusted partnerships with nearly 20,000 merchant locations, 𝐭𝐛𝐢 has a customer base of 2 million clients and issued nearly 550,000 loans in 2022. Its business model and customer-focused approach resulted in becoming one of the most profitable and efficient banks in the region.