Consumer Credit

As part of the 2017 Federal Budget, the government publicised it was commissioning a review into open banking. In May 2018, it announced open banking would officially start from 1 July 2019. Open banking will enable consumers greater control of ...

Consumer credit is forecast to see continued growth at constant 2018 prices in both outstanding balance and gross lending between 2018 and 2023. Card lending, the largest consumer credit category in gross lending terms, is set to be the most dynamic ...

While oil prices tended to improve during 2018, this led to lower reliance on loans from the public sector, while the private sector remained cautious as many entities were faced with operational challenges in the cost of doing business in the ...

At the time of writing, South Africa’s parliament was in the final stages of processing the National Credit Amendment Bill. Once passed into law, this act will provide relief to the many South African people who are in debt and facing difficulties ...

There has been a general decrease in demand for different credit types, especially regarding commercial loans, where balance remains negative. Regardless of the size of companies, applications and credit awards have been very low and will continue to...

Consumer credit new loans reached a value at even higher levels than the previous peaks recorded during 2007-2008. One important difference is that whilst in the past loans in foreign currency were widely present and encouraged, local currency now ...

Credit card companies are actively developing various types of loan products to seek other revenues in case the South Korean government keeps pressuring them to lower the fees they charge to merchants. Instalment payment plans, lease contracts and ...

With continued currency devaluation, demand for consumer loans continued to rise over the review period; however, the lending regulations by the Central Bank of Egypt issued in 2016 seemed to pay off for the stability of the financial sector in 2017....

In Venezuela, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) sets the interest rates that banks can charge for purchases made with credit cards; the cap is currently at 29%, much lower than the growth of inflation, which is expected to reach 1,000,000% by the ...

Although the Dutch are naturally inclined to be wary of building up debt, the economic progress towards the end of the review period has lowered the threshold considerably. In almost all categories, high growth rates were observed. The prospect of ...

Consumer credit continued to benefit from the ECB’s advantageous monetary policy from 2015, which resulted in benchmark interest rates reaching a record low level of 0.0%. The aim of this bond purchase policy is to facilitate economic development by ...

Auto lending continued to grow strongly, despite relatively moderate increases in unit volume sales. Besides the continued acceptance of credit shopping, the state has issued favourable policies and regulations to optimise legal auto loans. Hence, ...

Consumer confidence is still low because of the poor condition of the labour market and the slower than expected economic recovery in the country. Unemployment is high, while employed consumers remain reluctant to spend as they fear losing their job....

Consumers were cautious in their borrowing while lenders certainly became more prudent with regard to advancing unsecured credit in 2018. Despite the increase in household spending, the slowdown in growth of such spending could point towards weaker ...

Hong Kong was operating in a low interest rate environment between 2009 and 2017; borrowing costs were low to stimulate the economy. As the Hong Kong economy grows, it is expected that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will continue to increase the ...

India’s young population, the growing demand for quality education and higher education costs have led to higher education loan disbursals. Loans granted for technical engineering courses account for over one half of the total, according to industry ...

Consumer credit grew very strongly in 2018, which was due to low interest rates as well as a growing number of companies offering different types of credit. In fact, according to the Bank of Israel, consumer lending is growing at a rate that is twice...

In 2018 Morocco witnessed the lowest interest rates for consumer credit ever seen in the country. This was explained by the fierce competition between banks and financial institutions, such that each entity sought to provide the most interesting ...

2017 was a good year for lending providers as continued economic growth in the Philippines encouraged more consumers to borrow, especially for real estate and automobile purchases. Credit card usage also increased, albeit from a low base. In ...

In 2017, the Bank of Thailand introduced new regulations to control the level of household debt. As a result, growth in the number of new credit cards and unsecured personal loans slowed down but this was offset by higher consumer loans outstanding. ...