Romania’s largest lender BCR granted over 65,000 unsecured loans in the first five months of this year, 70 percent more than in the same period of 2013. More than half of these are consumer loans, while the rest are credit cards and overdrafts, the bank announced.

The average value of a consumer loan was up 30 percent compared to the same period of last year.

“This year we see the first signs of growth on the consumer loans segment,” said Andrew Gerber, BCR’s retail products director. He mentioned that more clients are refinancing their existing loans with BCR, which allows them to also get more money.

According to the bank, more clients are now taking loans to buy high tech products such as tablets, laptops, smartphones, and less of them are looking for traditional appliances. People also take credits for home renovations, small land purchases, holidays, education, training courses or family events, the bank mentioned.

BCR extended its promotion campaign for new consumer loans until June 30, 2014. The bank offers consumer loans with interest rates starting from 8.5 percent per year. The annual effective rate (DAE), which includes the other costs of the credit, is 10.08 percent.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com