Only Bulgaria has a lower penetration rate than Romania in the region – 2%.
Romanians use the Internet for an average of 4.5 activities, of which 4.2 are for information, communication and entertainment; very few users go online to make transactions.
Of the total 9.6 million Romanians with bank accounts, only 4% check their balance via Internet banking and only 3% make transactions using an online service. A similar share of this group pay online using cards (3% compared to 9% in Austria) or their mobile phone (1.6% compared to 29% in Austria), and a mere 3% have bought a financial service through the Internet.
“Although Internet penetration in Romania is among the lowest in the region, there is still plenty of room for the development of digital financial services, especially since mobile phone use is in full swing (not only by area, but by intensity as well), although it is used mainly for communication and entertainment,” says a GfK press release.
Over half of Romanians use the Internet every week, 80% use mobile phones and 13% have a smartphone. Furthermore, almost a third say they are fans of new technologies, while another third, although not fans themselves, are open to using them.
“In any field, low familiarization with new technologies hinders their adoption and online financial services are no exception. Even more, the fears preventing consumers from trying to make payments or buy online financial services are greater than in the case of other new services, since the perceived risk of loss is higher. In addition, many Romanians have not yet found the motivation to seek more information and take the first step,” says Anca Zamfirescu, GfK Romania Senior Research Consultant.