Lending business: double-digit growth in the first half of the year

49.5 billion euros were lent to consumers and companies. With a share of 13.6 billion euros, the member banks financed around 943,000 new and used cars, an increase of 15.4 percent. Furniture and consumer electronics were also financed more frequently than in 2010.

Association Managing Director Peter Wacket is also confident about the near future: "We expect demand for consumer loans to remain constant over the next twelve months." More than every second loan now comes from a specialist bank. Jan W. Wagner, CEO of CreditPlus Bank, sees confidence in loans growing overall: "The willingness to finance consumer goods with a loan is at an all-time high."

This is certainly due in particular to the fact that, according to a CreditPlus survey, 71% of Germans are positive about their future standard of living despite the crisis. More than one in five (22%) of those surveyed are currently considering financing at least one of their planned purchases with a loan. Among the younger target group, the figure is even higher at more than a quarter, while among the over-55s it is only one in ten.

Living more beautifully

For the coming months, Wacket predicts "that consumers will spend more money on housing and are also more likely to consider paying for their investments with a loan." This is suggested by the new consumer credit index, for which a thousand households were surveyed. A recent study by CreditPlus Bank sheds light on why furniture loans in particular are in vogue. According to the study, quality is more important than price for 43 percent of Germans. If they cannot pay immediately, they would also take out a loan for high-quality furniture. Germans currently want to refurnish their living room in particular (28%), followed by the bedroom (17%) and the kitchen (14%).

However, the consumer credit index shows less good prospects for other business segments: Over the next few months, the number of loans for new cars is expected to fall, as is financing for consumer electronics. Used cars (55 percent) are also more popular than new cars (41 percent) among those surveyed by CreditPlus. Five percent of them want to buy a car in the next three months. When it comes to electronics, expensive devices costing 500 euros or more are particularly popular: 17% are planning to buy one.