Almost half of Romanians (47%) would turn to family or friends if they needed an amount of money, while a little over a quarter (29%) are thinking of taking a bank loan, shows a market study, published on Tuesday, according to Agerpres.

According to data centralised by Reveal Marketing Research, 60% of respondents say they trust mobile banking applications because they „keep their money safe”. Internet banking or bank websites follow in the top of preferences, with 59% of all votes.

In the same context, 56% of those questioned maintain that they trust the banks to keep their money safe. Generation Z and people over 55 have significantly more trust in banks, with scores of 65% and 63%, respectively.

Moreover, 46% of Romanians trust Google Pay, and 41% trust Apple Wallet. On this segment, Generation Z (young people between 18 and 24 years old) is the only one that trusts Apple Wallet (52%) more than Google Pay (34%).

According to the cited source, online retailers are the institutions in which Romanians have the least confidence in terms of the safety of their money. In this regard, 31% trust international online merchants, and 38% trust local online merchants, while intermediary platforms that process online payments between retailer and buyer enjoy a higher score of 45%.

If they needed a certain amount of money, 47% of the respondents declare that they would borrow from family or friends, to a significantly greater extent Generation Z (64%) and those from rural areas (53%).

At the same time, turning to bank loans is preferred by 29% of Romanians, while 11% would use a shopping card if they needed a sum of money, and 3% mentioned that they would borrow from non-banking financial institutions (IFN).

In terms of savings, almost a quarter of Romanians (21%) declare that they are unable to put money aside, down from April 2022, when 29% of Romanians affirmed this aspect.

Also on this topic, 32% of all those interviewed say that they will save less than at present, and 28% declare that they will save the same as before. For 15% of Romanians, savings will increase, compared to 8% who declared in April 2022 that they will save more than at present.

Regarding the method of saving, the specialized study reveals that 58% of Romanians would turn to bank deposits.

As for online orders, 45% of respondents prefer to pay in the virtual environment when placing the order, especially people aged between 45 and 55 (55%), while 44% prefer to pay the order in cash when the package is delivered. Cash on delivery is preferred to a significantly higher extent by young people between 18 and 24 years old (58%) and by people from rural areas (53%).

Half of the Romanians (50%) declare that they will use less and less cash than before, to a significantly greater extent among people between 45 and 55 years old. More than a third (34%) stated that they will use cash in the same proportion as at present, while 7% emphasize that they will use more cash.

On the relationship between Romanians and banks, half of the respondents declare that they use the services of a single banking institution for all the operations and services they need, to a significantly greater extent generation Z (63%), people over 55 years old (56% ) and those from rural areas (57%). In context, 47% of Romanians prefer to use the services of two, even three banks, and 3% collaborate with more than three banks. People active on the labor market, especially those between 35 and 55 years old, collaborate with more banks than the rest of the respondents.

The Reveal Marketing Research study took place online between February 15 and 17, 2023, on a sample of 1,008 respondents, Internet users over the age of 18. The maximum sampling error is +/-3.1% at a 95% confidence level.

Agerpres