Half of Romanians believe financial inclusion is high in our country

Half of Romanians believe that the level of financial inclusion in our country is high, a percentage similar to that in Europe, a new study by MasterCard reveals.

The main reasons for financial exclusion listed by Romanian respondents are distrust in banks (50 percent), lack of knowledge on personal finance management (42 percent) as well as income inequality and lack of education (38 percent each). By comparison, Europeans place income inequality at the top, followed by distrust in banks and lack of knowledge about managing their own money.

Half of the Romanian respondents believe that in order to improve financial inclusion we need changes in legislation, but also list factors such as infrastructure development support or education courses in the field. The perception is relatively similar to the European level, except that Europeans attach the greatest importance to education, followed by the need to extend the infrastructure and legislation.

Nearly 3 out of 4 Romanian respondents believe that banks should take responsibility for increasing financial inclusion through the above measures, but a majority (66 percent) also places responsibility with the government. By comparison, most Europeans (67 percent) indicated that they expect governments to improve these factors rather than other entities.

The study found that financial and digital inclusion are perceived to be related, respondents considering them equally important for society.

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“Financial and digital inclusion are deeply interconnected, being equally essential for a high standard of living. This study shows that Romanians are aware and prepared for the acceleration of financial inclusion, given that 80 percent consider that one of the main benefits of technological advance is to facilitate access to financial products and services,” stated Cosmin Vladimirescu, general manager of MasterCard Romania.

In Romania, the percentage of those who believe that digital inclusion is important is highest among the other European countries included in the study – 87 percent of respondents. However, less than half of Romanian consider that they live in a country that provides access to technologies such as Internet, mobile devices, laptops and computers. The main reasons put forward for digital exclusion by both Romanian and European respondents are the lack of specific education and income inequality.

Over half of Romanians, once more the largest percentage among nationalities surveyed, believe that, in order to increase the level of digital inclusion at local level more financial support for those with such needs is needed. Other factors are listed infrastructure development and education courses in the field. At European level, the main factors to improve digital inclusion nominees are the same, but education comes first.

Both Romanians and Europeans generally believe that the main entity responsible for advancing digital inclusion should be the government, but, interestingly, more than half of Romanian believe that they themselves are responsible for developing access to products and services technology.

The study has been carried out by MasterCard over 10 European markets (Germany, UK, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and Romania), on 10,021 consumers.

Natalia Martian