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Study: the percentage of Romanians who withdraw cash from ATMs was reduced by 30 points against five years ago
The percentage of people who withdraw cash from ATMs was reduced by 30 percentage points against five years ago, and two out of three Romanians (67%) use banking products and services of any kind, such as current accounts,cards, loans,deposits and payments,according to a study made by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategies (IRES) and commissioned by the Romanian Association of Banks.(ARB).
‘Two out of three Romanians (67%) use banking products and services of any kind, such as current accounts, cards, loans, deposits and payments’ according to the Study The digitisation of the banking system in the perception of the Romanians made in December 2020 by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES) and commissioned by the Romanian Association of Banks. At the level of 2017, the degree of financial inclusion was estimated at 58% in Romania.
At present, approximately 79% of the users of banking products and services use a current account (including salary card). Men, aged between 36-50, higher education are first in the top of users of current accounts. The study does not show a gap in the use of current accounts among the population in the rural environment (79,5%) as compared to the urban environment (77.9%).
16% of the interviewees who have banking products and services have a loan for personal needs, 11% have a real estate loan/ mortgage underway, 36% have a credit card (purchase card) and 7% of the interviewees have an overdraft.
As for savings, 14% of the interviewees have banking deposits and 14% chose saving accounts. A client can use simultaneously several banking products and services.
The study shows the growth of the degree of digitisation as compared to the previous years, this trend being accelerated by the measures of sanitary protection adopted during the pandemics.
‘From the users of financial services, 43% make payments by card (POS), 27% pay by internet/mobile banking, and 61% mentioned they withdraw cash from ATMs, the question being with multiple answers. The behaviour of card usage shows a reduction of 30 percentage points of the number of people who withdraw cash from the ATMs, as compared to the situation of five years ago’ the study shows.
14% of those who use the app Mobile Banking use it daily, similarly as 10% who use Internet Banking, the smartphone being the most used device to access Internet/Mobile Banking.
As regards interaction with the bank and the way of accessing products and services, more than half of the interviewees (54%) stated they go less than once a month to the bank branch they work with, 32% once a month and the rest even less often. More than half of the clients (54%) spoke about the visit to the bank as the first way to access the banking products and services most often, the second being by phone (25%). In order to get a loan, a deposit or to open an account, the Romanians prefer direct interaction with the banking agent by 80%.
The opinion survey was made in December 2020 on a sample of 1,479 adult interviewees, out of whom 1,158 are users of banking services, with a maximum error +/-2.8%.