Consumer Finance

Consumer lending in Morocco remains relatively underdeveloped, with a very low level of card lending. This was beginning to change as urban consumers became more Westernised, but the pandemic has interrupted this trend. With the rate of unemployment…

Traditionally, Moroccans have been reluctant to take on consumer debt due to high interest rates. Very few of them have credit cards, for example. In a highly uncertain economic environment that saw the unemployment rate peak at almost 13% in the…

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has resulted in a significant speeding up in the move away from cash, as consumers and retailers tried to avoid handling it, particularly in the early days of the pandemic. This has therefore been providing strong impetus…

Consumer gross lending will show a notable slowdown in growth in both outstanding balance and gross lending in 2021. Despite high involvement from the Central Bank of Russia, including new legislation and macroprudential requirements for unsecured…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent economic downturn has heightened demand for consumer credit in Russia. Driven by the economic context, consumer confidence and willingness to purchase expensive items with credit, such as cars, has…

Coronavirus (COVID-19) had a negative impact on consumer payment transactions in 2020, although a rebound is immediately expected to be seen in 2021. There is an ongoing trend away from using cash, with consumers increasingly moving towards…

While consumer payments have been declining in 2020 and 2021 due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), card payments have continued growing. Consumers have been favouring contactless payments, seen as the most hygienic means of paying for goods, as well as…

Financial cards and payments were significantly impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020, with the pandemic still affecting the industry in 2021. However, after the decline in consumer payment transactions value in 2020, a return to positive growth…

The overall consumer payments value performance will remain weak in 2021, after a challenging 2020, with Coronavirus (COVID-19) limiting spending opportunities and also having a major impact on local economies in the region. While the pandemic helped…

Store cards will continue to see a decline in shares in 2021 given the strong competition from other financial card types. It is only possible to use some store cards in certain chains or even stores, which limits their usage and appeal. The other…

COVID-19 heavily impacted the use of closed loop pre-paid cards during 2020 due a dramatic decline in the use of public transport in urban areas, particularly during the second and third quarters of the year. Lockdown measures saw public transport in…

In 2021, pre-paid cards continue to be one of the most preferred financial cards for the youngest or unbanked population in Italy, due to the easiness of accessing this payment method. However, as with other financial cards, the rise of contactless…

A shift to cashless payments among local consumers continued to drive growth in financial card use among Ukrainians in 2021. Although COVID-19 has played a role in this by making some (particularly older consumers) more reluctant to handle notes and…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes to financial cards and payments in 2021. Although consumer spending as a whole has been negatively affected by the measures taken to contain the spread of the virus, financial cards has performed much…

A shift to cashless payments among local consumers continues to drive growth in debit card use among Ukrainians in 2021. Although COVID-19 has played a certain role in this by making some (particularly older consumers) more reluctant to handle notes…

The great societal changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic positively affected digital payments and the use of financial cards in 2021. Consumers are increasingly preferring to make contactless payments, as this is considered a safer and more hygienic…

The value and volume of credit card transactions in Ukraine continued to expand at a robust pace during 2021, with a sharp reduction in the National Bank of Ukraine’s key policy rate during 2020 due to the economic shock of the pandemic playing a key…

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a strong impact on the usage of credit cards by Italian consumers. This is because they have been strongly encouraged to reduce their use of cash, as it was seen as a potential way to spread the virus. However, with…

The outstanding balance of consumer credit in Ukraine continued to grow in constant value terms during 2021, albeit at its lowest rate since 2016. Gross lending also expanded at its lowest rate in constant value terms since 20216. The economic shock…

The economic shock of the pandemic did not create significant difficulties for the country’s lenders during 2021. This was somewhat surprising, as previous economic crises have generally driven a surge in non-performing loans and even led to bank…