More than half of these, namely 2.6 million reports, were released for potential clients, virtually indicating the dimension of loan demand.
“Loan demand, as the number of reports issued for potential clients of participant banks, had an upward trend, with a peak of 657,000 reports in March. Against the same period of 2013, we can notice a significant increase in demand, but the more consistent growth is the one referring to portfolio monitoring,” Serban Epure, general manager of the Credit Bureau, told ZF.
The number of loan applications rose by 18% from the first 5 months of last year. The number of potential client monitoring reports more than tripled, from 0.7 million to 2.4 million reports. Banks use these reports to find out information about the financial situation of a client they lent to in the past irrespective of whether he or she has difficulty in paying back loans.
On the other hand, monitoring reports also have the potential to boost loan sales.
The monthly average of monitoring reports neared half a million in the first five months, double the monthly average of 2013. Also, the monthly average of new applications advanced by one fifth against last year. The Credit Bureau issued over 8 million reports during 2013. “2014 is giving signs of being the most lucrative one for the Credit Bureau, thus proving the rising utility of our information,” states Epure.
Still, loan demand varies significantly from one month to another. This year’s record was set in March, at over 650,000 reports. The all-time high had been reached in the summer of 2008, right before bankers froze lending, when almost 800,000 reports had been issued in just one month, July.
Credit Bureau data corroborates bankers’ statements about a pickup in retail loan demand in recent months.
Overall, retail lending is still declining on the narrowing portfolios of foreign currency-denominated loans. Sums owed by individuals to banks reached the equivalent of RON97 billion in late May, slightly down from the same period of last year. The number of consumer loans, mortgage loans and credit cards was flat at around 5.5 million accounts, according to Credit Bureau data.
The Credit Bureau collects data only about the loans granted to individuals, with 33 banks and 22 non-banking financial institutions participating in its system.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)