2012-04-05
Survey reveals most Lithuanian residents hold bank accounts and use payment services
Nine out of ten Lithuanian residents have bank accounts, while the majority of the rest do not have any as they do not need them. It came out after the survey commissioned by the Bank of Lithuania and conducted among the country residents and banks.
“The survey revealed a high penetration level of banking services in Lithuania. There are no social groups with restricted access to bank accounts or payment services. A small number of people do not hold bank accounts; they say they do not miss such services, and it does not cause them any discomfort,” Vaidievutis Geralavičius, a member of the Bank of Lithuania Board said commenting on the survey results.
The survey was conducted by Spinter tyrimai and was aimed at finding out the habits and priorities regarding the usage of bank accounts, cash, and payment cards by the country residents. Between February 20 and 28, 1,008 respondents from all over the country were surveyed.
The survey showed that 91% of the respondents in the age group 18 to 75 years had a bank account, while 2% of the respondents shared their account with another person. 7% of the respondents did not have a bank account, of which the majority (77%) said they did not have a need to have any. Only one respondent reported he had been refused a bank account by the bank because of the failure to submit documents.
High access to bank accounts was observed in social groups which were more likely to face financial exclusion. These are people with low income, including the unemployed, pensioners, and disabled individuals, who live in rural areas. According to the survey, almost 88% of young people (18 to 25 years) and seniors (56 years and above) had a bank account, of which 87% were with unfinished secondary education and 86% with a monthly income of less than LTL 1,000 after taxes. The same level (86%) was reported regarding the unemployed and people living in rural areas.
The Bank of Lithuania has looked into the possibility to use a basic payment account taking into account the European Commission’s recommendation aimed at boosting financial and social inclusion. For this purpose a minimum basket of payment services has been defined. It includes access to a basic payment account and related payment services (depositing of cash to and withdrawing from the account, crediting of funds, initiating credit transfers, using direct debit operations, and access to internet banking).
“Despite comparatively high financial inclusion in Lithuania which has achieved de facto the aim pointed out in the European Commission’s recommendation, we continue to monitor closely the market of basic banking services and plan to conduct more surveys focusing not only on the accessibility of banking services, but also cost-based price justification,” Geralavičius said.
To improve transparency in the banking service market a special section “Mokėjimo paslaugų įkainiai” is available on the website of the Bank of Lithuania (http://www.lb.lt/ikainiai) since last autumn. For user convenience, it also contains standard fees for payment services generally provided to the country residents by banks, credit unions, and payment institutions, which are continuously updated. A possibility also exists to compare them and choose the cheapest service providers.