Survey: Estonian residents less interested in different lenders than Latvians and Lithuanians

Survey: Estonian residents less interested in different lenders than Latvians and Lithuanians

The consumer credit survey commissioned by Bigbank and carried out by RAIT Faktum&Ariko revealed that in comparison with Latvia and Lithuania, Estonians compare the offers of different lenders the least often – only 31% of Estonian request offers from other financial companies. In Latvia and Lithuania is these percentages are 37 and 45, respectively.

“Estonians are generally very price sensitive, whether shopping for groceries or using various services,” said Head of Bigbank Estonian Branch Andrus Kuus. “Unfortunately, people forget that lenders also provide services, so it would be reasonable to compare different loan offers and choose the most suitable one.” “The main reason why Estonians are not interested in other lenders is that their salaries are paid into their home banks.”

“When taking a loan, most people forget that there are more options on the market – the massive marketing and strong image of large banks probably also play a role here,” noted Andrus Kuus. “For example, the speed of the loan procedure and getting a quick response was the most important to Estonian respondents alongside the suitable size of the loan repayment, and only then came the interest rate. However, the interest rate was the most important factor to people in Latvia and Lithuania. The financial awareness of Estonians could be better and other financial companies could help improve the situation if they were more noticeable with their activities next to large banks.”

The positive highlighted by Andrus Kuus is that Estonians had not listed everyday outgoings among the top three reasons of taking a loan, but instead borrowed for renovating their homes and buying home appliances and furniture, or a car. “Home renovation is also the main reason for taking a small loan in Latvia and Lithuania, but coping with everyday outgoings was in the second place, which means that Estonians are better at budgeting,” said Kuus.

1,000 Estonians, 1,006 Latvians and 1,035 Lithuanians aged 18-65 responded to the online survey of RAIT Faktum&Ariko. The survey was carried out in October 2017.