Lending Metrics: Consumer Approaches to Credit Products and Distribution in France

Based on a survey of over 1,000 consumers, Lending Metrics: Consumer Approaches to Credit Products and Distribution in France provides detailed and timely insights into the rapidly evolving market for consumer lending in France. The research specifies the percentage of French adults making use of ten different types of credit product plus how holdings of each loan type split by gender, age group, annual household income, employment status and presence of dependents. Loan types in scope are as follows:

mortgages / home loans;
other loans secured on property;
loans secured on possessions (e.g. jewellery or electrical products);
vehicle loans / leasing contracts;
retailer loans / finance contracts;
overdrafts;
payday loans;
guarantor loans (i.e. loans guaranteed by relatives or friends);
credit cards;
and other (unsecured) loans.
Furthermore, the study delivers unique data illustrating both consumer propensity to take out loans online and to make use of lending product aggregators (comparison sites) when doing so, with insights additionally provided into the distribution channels used for the following loan types:

mortgages / home loans (between direct lending and distribution via brokers or other intermediaries);
other loans secured on property (again, between direct lending and distribution via brokers or other intermediaries);
vehicle loans / leasing contracts (between point-of-sale acquisition via dealers, direct lending and distribution via brokers or other intermediaries);
other (unsecured) loans (between direct lending, distribution via brokers or other intermediaries and distribution via P2P / marketplace lending platforms).
Finally, the research explores the reasons given by consumers in France for taking out each type of loan. In addition to buying a home or vehicle, other reasons commonly mentioned include paying for home improvements, paying for vehicle repairs, buying electrical products or appliances, buying furniture, paying for education fees, paying for holidays / travel, buying gifts, paying household bills, paying for other living expenses, and paying off other debts.

Types of organisation that may benefit from using this research include the following:

• banks and other lending institutions: the status of established banks as the first port of call for consumers needing to borrow money is being threatened by the emergence of multiple new types of lending institution and intermediary – this research will provide competitors active in this sector with insights into what changes in consumer behaviour mean for them;
• aggregators: the research indicates that a significant proportion of loans acquired online are organised via aggregators as consumers seek to evaluate the growing number of borrowing options open to them by comparing products;
• affinity and corporate partners: among types of organisation with a direct interest in consumer lending are automotive manufacturers and retailers because of the additional revenues that they can earn from point-of-sale finance agreements – to what degree are new dynamics in this sector disrupting their existing business models in this field?
• management consultancies: for consulting firms helping incumbents or challengers with their strategy in the French consumer lending market, the research will provide invaluable knowledge concerning consumer behaviour in this arena.