WIESBADEN (dpa-AFX) – Consumers in Germany are increasingly using small loans for purchases on credit. Four out of ten (42.6 percent) newly agreed installment loans in Germany were less than 1000 euros last year, according to the “Risk and Credit Compass” published by the credit agency Schufa on Tuesday.
According to Schufa, the number of newly concluded installment loan agreements rose “rapidly” to more than 9.1 million in 2022. This is an increase of 30 percent compared to 2021. A good 3.8 million of the 9.1 million agreements were therefore small loans under 1000 euros. A year earlier, the Wiesbaden-based credit agency had counted just over 2 million new contracts in this category. For the first time, the proportion of microloans was larger than the proportion of newly concluded loans for amounts of more than 10,000 euros.
According to the findings of Schufa, younger people in particular often use the opportunity to pay off purchases in online shops, for example, in installments. Schufa board member Ole Schröder warned: “Even the repayment of many small loans can quickly lead to financial overload.”
However, the majority of the loans are serviced in accordance with the contract: As in the two previous years, according to the Schufa, consumers reliably repaid their installment loans in 97.9 percent of the cases. However, regular consumer surveys show that because of the general rise in prices, “many people’s financial reserves have now been used up,” Schröder explained./ben/DP/zb
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