A total of 53 percent of Romanians who use a banking product know they can recover their money if the bank goes bankrupt, according to a survey presented by the Romanian Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGDB).

Two thirds of Romania’s population using banking services know that deposits are guaranteed.

Only 10 percent of those who know that they can recover the money in case the bank goes bankrupt also know the refund procedure. However, the figure is double compared to 2010.

The survey also reveals that although the legal deadline for returning the money in case of bankruptcy is of 20 days, respondents expect to get their money back in about a year. Moreover, only 7 percent know the guarantee ceiling is of EUR 100,000.

Half of the respondents say that the media is the main source of information when it comes to the refunding procedure.

When it comes to savings, Romanians trust the RON. A total of 80 percent of those who saved money in the last year preferred the local currency. This trend will continue in the future, 76 percent of those who intend to save money in the next 12 months choosing the RON, according to FGDB.

The main reasons why Romanians don’t save are the low income and the increase of current expenses, while less than a quarter of respondents managed to save money over the last year.

Half of those who saved money in 2013 kept them in cash, 26 percent in deposits, and 19 percent in savings accounts.

In terms of lending, 36 percent of the population using banking services currently has a loan. Most of them, namely 74 percent, use a personal loan with no mortgage, in RON. In the future, only 12 percent of respondents say they would be willing to take some type of credit, usually without a mortgage.

The survey was conducted between January 31 and March 2, 2014, and followed developments related to the population’s financial statement, saving behavior, attitudes towards the banking system and credit institutions, as well as Romanians’ level of information about deposit guarantees, financial instruments and lending. The entire survey can be found here (in Romanian).

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com