Financial Services, Internet, Latvia, Loan

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 22:44

Balanced growth observed on non-bank lending market

BC, Riga, 03.05.2017.Print version
Balanced growth was observed on the non-bank lending market last year, as the Alternative Financial Services Association of Latvia informed BC.

EUR 168.8 mln was issued in online consumer loans in 2016, a 12% increase on 2015, said the association.


However, the proportion of new loan applications turned down by lenders amounted to 65.6% in the second half of 2016, which is 7.8 percentage points more than in the second half of 2015.


"We are seeing well-balanced development in the non-bank lending sector at the moment. On the one hand, consumers have become more optimistic about economic development in Latvia and their incomes while, on the other hand, lenders' customer solvency assessment procedures prevent badly thought-out borrowing practices. This is also proved by data on the loan portfolio's quality," said the Alternative Financial Services Association's head Gints Aboltins. New regulations that came into effect on January 1 last year have also had a positive effect on the sector's performance.


According to the association's data for end-2016, 91%of loans issued by the association's members are repaid on time, which is 1.5 percentage points more than on December 31, 2015.


The data also show that the amount of loans that borrowers elect to repay in several installments has increased 49%.






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