Are you considering making an expense that exceeds your monthly financial means and savings? One thing is clear: you will turn to the credit market.
Will you turn to a traditional bank or a credit broker?
Two solutions that offer different services.
At first glance, nothing too difficult
Except that since 2012 the economic situation is different. The financial crisis related to the public deficit of European countries has passed through, and the so-called austerity policies devised by governments have an undeniable impact on the credit market. Indeed, banking activity is now the focus of all attention, and in this area, one word reigns supreme: caution.
The figures speak for themselves: the number of mortgage loans contracted decreased by 23% in Belgium in March, compared to March 2011. In France, over the same period, the drop is staggering: -47%. The number of credit applications in Belgium fell by 20%. The amount of loans granted also recorded a less significant decrease of 9%. The amount for credit applications contracted by 5% (Le soir en ligne “Decrease in mortgage loans in March,” Thursday, April 12, 2012).
Consequence?
The new clients of Crédit Populaire Européen have already noticed. It is becoming very complicated to obtain a loan from your usual banker. Banks are becoming increasingly demanding. With this worrying consequence, the number of bankruptcies in Belgium increased by 26% in the first quarter of 2012.
It would therefore not be surprising if the consumer who was used to turning to their usual banker is led to turn to independent credit brokers to check the credit access conditions and the financial conditions offered to them.
Independent credit brokers are, unlike banks, credit specialists. Their professional activity is almost exclusively based on granting credit. This is not the case for a bank that largely lives off the investments it makes with its clients’ savings. In other words, access to credit is therefore much easier with an independent broker.
Usual bankers are an essential link in economic policy, and today even more than yesterday, they are catalyst actors. They are monitored by the Banking and Financial Commission, by the National Bank of Belgium, and by the government, which legitimately wishes to avoid fiascos such as the near-bankruptcies of Fortis and Dexia banks. Consequence? The measures taken by banks are sometimes more “media-driven” than economic. An independent broker enjoys more flexible leeway. They accept or reject your file based on its objective financial elements and not on the basis of a general policy that no longer makes distinctions.
Finally, and it is obvious, your usual banker can only offer you “in-house” products and cannot take advantage of the enormous diversity of other products available on the market. An independent broker works with many different financial partners.
At Crédit Populaire Européen, we have more than 20 financial partners who will take a different look at your request. The independent broker is therefore much more able to take advantage of the competition between financial partners.