Revolut Money Report: what presents Romanians dream about for Christmas?

Revolut, the global financial super app used by over 35M customers worldwide and over 3.3 million customers in Romania, asked 14,000 people in 14 countries, including 1,000 in Romania, about their dream presents and their Christmas budget this year. This is what they said, according to the study commissioned to Dynata.

Santa’s budget

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Black Week, or St. Nicholas Day is already behind us, and the last mile to Christmas. It is an unwritten tradition that many people buy gifts at the very last minute. Rushing too much could mean they buy mismatched presents, fall victim to a scam, or go way over budget, but these risks will be taken. Gifts simply must land under the Christmas tree. Last year, most Romanian respondents to a similar study (48%) said they would spend less than EUR 250 for Christmas gifts, and 6% of respondents in this market said they would not spend at all. 43% expected to spend between EUR 250-1,000 and 3% even over EUR 1,000. So what is the budget? It depends on the country.

Among the respondents surveyed by Revolut in Romania, 28% plan to buy gifts for a total of EUR 100-200, 27% want to spend approximately EUR 50-100, 20% between EUR 200-500 and 2% do not intend to buy any gifts at all this year. 8% wish to spend less than EUR 50.

Santa has a budget ranging from EUR 200 to EUR 500 in France (35%), Spain (29%) and Italy (29%). Going to Eastern European countries, the budgets between EUR 200-500 shrink and the Santa’s bag with gifts is light enough (budget-wise) to fit through the chimney, in Hungary (14%), Latvia 13%), Poland and Lithuania (18%).

Is it appropriate to return a gift?

The problem with a gift is when, despite the high price, it does not suit the recipient’s taste. In the survey, 5% of respondents in Romania admitted that the gifts they receive are almost always returned because they are mismatched. 5% might have returned gifts in the past, but in general they avoid doing this because it is embarrassing. 29% do not return them as they enjoy every gift, and 41% obey a rule to “not look a gift horse in the mouth.” 20% have no dilemmas as their loved ones know their preferences and choose gifts well.

Romanians tend not to return gifts. And what about other countries? Gifts are returned most often in Singapore (8%), Spain (6%) and Australia (5%), mainly among recipients in the 25-34 age group (5%). Italians are the most embarrassed when it comes to giving back a gift (22%). Portuguese (23%) and Poles (22%) know each other’s tastes and expectations best. This helps them choose a proper gift. Spaniards (36%), Portuguese (34%) and Brazilians (31%) will be more than happy with any gift.

Romanians put financial wishes on Santa’s list

If one financial dream were to come true for Christmas, Romanians have mainly two desires: get a higher salary (24%) and learn how to grow their money through saving and investing (24%). Repayment of their loans got 21% of the responses. Thirdly, Romanians would like ”to be offered” a lower inflation (13%). Romanians would be less keen to see low taxes (8%), and higher interest rates on their savings account (3%) under the Christmas tree. The least attractive surprise gift turned out to be a mortgage loan (1%).

Were wishes in other countries different? Lithuanians (13%) and Bulgarians (15%) dream of repaying their loans less often than the Portuguese (27%) and Australians (26%). Brazilians (29%), Lithuanians (26%) and Spaniards (26%) would like to find under their Christmas tree a gift in the form of a pay rise, while Poles would be least excited to see it (19%). Brazilians most often pointed at mortgage loans, but still not many (4%). The French (32%) and Hungarians (23%) dream about low inflation. Belgians (16%) and Lithuanians (14%) ask Santa for low taxes. Residents of Australia (10%) and Singapore (9%) would like the interest rates on savings accounts to be higher. Who dreams about knowledge on how to grow their money? Firstly, Bulgarians (43%), secondly, Singaporeans (28%), and thirdly, Romanians (24%). Let the wishes come true!

Is luxury an option for Christmas gifts?

48% of surveyed Romanians believe that nowadays luxury is having enough resources to travel everywhere all year long. This is the new luxury perception amongst the local consumers. And it is also visible through the Romanian Revolut customers’ behaviour: the budget for travel allocated between January and November 2023 increased by 67%, to over 1.8 billion lei. An average Romanian Revolut customer spent over 934 lei per month on travel, compared to 876 lei per month (January 1st – November 30th, 2023 vs. January 1st – November 30th, 2022).

For 40% of the Romanians, time is a luxury – having more time for yourself and your loved ones comes second. Personal wealth assets such as big houses, expensive cars, or boats (32%) is in third place. In December 2022 alone, Revolut customers in Romania made over 150,000 payments to merchants in categories such as: jewelry, watches and precious stones, antiques and art objects, cruises, golf clubs, cosmetics and perfumes. The average amount spent by a Romanian with Revolut to pay for jewelry, precious stones, and watches, for example, increased by 27% in December 2022 compared to December 2021, Revolut data shows.

For 22% of respondents, access to many forms of convenient money management tools is a luxury (stocks, crypto, others). Only 17% think that luxury is about premium brands (e.g. clothes, cosmetics, jewelry). This gives a hint on what might have more value during Christmas. What else could be a luxurious privilege? 14% of respondents in Romania consider access to limited services that provide a better level of experience (e.g. airport lounges when traveling, elite membership programs such as Revolut Ultra) to be a luxury. For 12%, the key factor is to have expensive passions (elite sports activities and hobbies), and, at par, the luxury is to send their children to a private school/study abroad (e.g. Harvard).

Revolut users can invest, directly in the application, both in precious metals (gold, silver, platinum and palladium) and on the European or American stock exchanges, through the trading products offered by the Lithuanian group entity, Revolut Securities Europe UAB. More than 330,000 Romanian customers have already used Revolut for trading more than 2,200 US stocks, over 100 European stocks and more than 150 ETFs. 23% of customers who trade with Revolut are women, and 67% are men. 39% are between 35-44 years old.

Coming back to the “luxurious dream” of having more time for yourself and your loved ones – which was most often indicated by Belgians (46%), Bulgarians (44%), French (41%) and Romanians (40%), Christmas and New Year’s Eve is probably the best time to make this dream come true. And you don’t need a budget for it!

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