What is Ferratum Summer Barometer 2019?

Since 2014, Ferratum Group has asked its customers to share their spending habits twice a year: once during the Summer holidays and, again, just before Christmas.

The purpose of the surveys is to understand our customers´ spending behaviours during the holidays and how spending differs from country to country. The surveys also explore how will people spend their holidays, which country will spend the most money during this period, who prefers to use Airbnb for their accommodation and which countries prefer online shopping versus traditional retail.

Celebrating our 10th Barometer edition – with over 22,000 respondents – we’re excited to share the results of the FERRATUM SUMMER BAROMETER 2019™.

Ferratum UK was part of the 10th holiday survey where we’re looking at Summer spending in the FERRATUM SUMMER BAROMETER 2019™.

THE 10^th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF FERRATUM‘S INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR SURVEY BRINGS SURPRISING RESULTS

Ferratum Group’s Summer Barometer™ 2019 results are announced, marking the 10th consecutive successful survey. Over 22,000 households participated in the biannual survey which explored summer consumer spending behaviour across 17 countries. Data included summer activities, whether participants would make their purchases online or through traditional retail outlets and how does spending compare in different countries.

This year‘s results show that 28% of the respondents will spend more money during the summer holiday season, when compared to the same period last year, while 39% indicated they will spend as much as they did last summer.

Surprising results in countries’ spending

Some countries have shifted dramatically when compared with previous years. For example, Norway held the top-spender position with the biggest amount of spending money (out of disposable household income) allocated in 2018 at 68%. However, this year‘s results found Norway on 10th place with only 36% of disposable household income used for the 2019 summer holiday.

UK respondents report that they will have a drop in the amount of summer spending from their disposable household income this year, with only 39% of their budget allocated compared to 48.8% in 2018.

Brits are now looking to reign in their summer spending compared to last year, possibly due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and leaving the EU making people worry about the impact on European travel.

Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager

Summer spending relative to disposable household income

SPENDING IN RELATION TO OTHER COUNTRIES

Mexico

193 66%
Bulgaria

166 56%
Spain

149 51%
Latvia

127 43%
Estonia

124 42%
Poland

122 41%
Netherlands

119 40%
Canada

116 39%
UK

114 39%
Norway

107 36%
Croatia

100 34%
Grand total

100 34%
Sweden

85 29%
Germany

84 29%
Finland

83 28%
Denmark

75 26%
Brazil

37 13%
Romania

35 12%

International summer spending 2019

Domestic travelling

15%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

12%
Summer activities

12%
Home/holiday furnishings

10%
Summer clothing and fashion

10%
Social events

8%
Travelling abroad

7%
Gardening or DIY

5%
Financing children’s summer activities

5%
Summer festivals

5%
Recreational investments

5%
Well-being services, spa

4%
Attending sporting events

2%

Household summer spending forecast 2019

Same as last summer

39%
Less than last summer

33%
More than last summer

28%

Cash continues to lose favour in 2019. The future is mobile!

85% of respondents in Sweden, Denmark and Norway would choose cards over cash, according to the survey results. However, this trend is not limited to Scandinavia, and an overall total of more than 60% of survey participants indicated that they prefer cards to cash this summer, up from just over 50% in 2018.

Mobile banking services also saw an upswing: over 80% of respondents from Sweden, Netherlands, Canada, UK, Poland and Brazil said they would use mobile banking during this period. The survey shows more and more markets going digital for their banking.

Online and retail shopping at a standoff

Over 35% of respondents from the UK, Spain and the Netherlands said they would be shopping online for products and services this summer, while Latvia and Finland will continue to stick with more traditional retail for their summer purchases.

The UK continues to lead the way for online purchase this summer. Online shopping is huge in the UK, and Brits know how to utilise online facilities and shop around to get the best summer deals.

British shoppers are moving away from the traditional highstreet, taking advantage of mobile banking services, cashless payment systems and online deals to make the most of their summer budgets.

Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager

Index of online purchases during summer:

UK

39%
Spain

38%
Netherlands

36%
Germany

33%
Romania

33%
Denmark

32%
Sweden

32%
Poland

32%
Estonia

31%
Bulgaria

28%
Canada

27%
Norway

27%
Mexico

27%
Brazil

25%
Croatia

24%
Latvia

23%
Finland

23%

Expenditure allocated for travelling

Germany

65%
Denmark

61%
Netherlands

57%
Poland

56%
Bulgaria

55%
Finland

54%
Estonia

52%
Norway

51%
Sweden

51%
Mexico

51%
Spain

50%
Romania

50%
Croatia

49%
UK

48%
Brazil

47%
Canada

45%
Latvia

40%

When travelling, how much do you prefer card payments over cash transactions?

Sweden

85%
Denmark

85%
Norway

85%
Estonia

78%
UK

77%
Netherlands

76%
Canada

75%
Finland

75%
Romania

74%
Poland

72%
Latvia

72%
Germany

71%
Spain

70%
Bulgaria

69%
Croatia

67%
Brazil

64%
Mexico

62%

Households utilising mobile banking services during summer time

Sweden

89%
Netherlands

88%
Canada

87%
UK

85%
Poland

83%
Brazil

81%
Norway

77%
Croatia

74%
Finland

73%
Romania

72%
Latvia

71%
Mexico

71%
Spain

71%
Estonia

70%
Denmark

58%
Bulgaria

51%
Germany

47%

Who will be willing to pay more that 100Eur for a night at the hotel?

Canada

54%
Brazil

49%
Poland

46%
Norway

35%
Sweden

32%
Germany

22%
UK

20%
Finland

19%
Netherlands

17%
Denmark

14%
Bulgaria

9%
Estonia

8%
Mexico

7%
Spain

7%
Croatia

7%
Romania

3%
Latvia

3%

Households planning to utilise AirBnB services during holidays

Germany

73%
Bulgaria

45%
Romania

37%
Norway

35%
Canada

31%
Estonia

30%
Sweden

27%
Latvia

26%
UK

22%
Denmark

21%
Mexico

20%
Netherlands

20%
Croatia

19%
Finland

18%
Poland

18%
Spain

17%
Brazil

16%

Holiday financing preferences:

With savings

52%
Partly with Ferratum Loans

27%
Partly with credit cards

10%
Partly with consumer credit

7%
Partly with loans from other financial institutions

4%

How soon do you think you will able to pay back the loans used for holiday spending?

In less than a half year

27%
In a longer time than a half year

26%
In three months

20%
In two months

15%
In one month

11%

Top summer spending for 2019

Respondents from all 17 countries would spend the most money on the following three activities: domestic travel (15% of their budget), personal/family recreational activities (12%) and summer activities like beach-going, parties and eating at restaurants (12%).

The UK’s survey respondents were the only participants to highly rate fashion in this survey, being the sole country to list summer clothing as a main source of spending during the summer period. Norway and Denmark earn the world-traveller award by being the only two countries to list travelling abroad as a top activity for summer spending.

In the UK respondents continue to list summer clothing as their top summer spending activity. Brits are reported to spend a lot on clothes year round compared to their European neighbours, so this makes sense that it’s reflected in the Barometer.

It’s interesting that UK respondents have reported a slight increase on travelling abroad with 12% in 2019 compared to 9.8% in 2018. While on the whole our respondents are spending less, their travel budget is higher, as Brits are choosing to travel outside of the EU this summer.

Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager

Top Summer spending behaviour:

Bulgaria

Domestic travelling

17%
Summer activities

16%
Home/holiday furnishings

14%
Summer clothing and fashion

9%
Recreational investments

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 166 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 56% (538 €)

Brazil

Domestic travelling

22%
Summer clothing and fashion

14%
Home/holiday furnishings

12%
Summer activities

10%
Recreational investments

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 37 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 13% (113 €)

Canada

Personal or family recreational or sport activities

18%
Summer activities

11%
Summer clothing and fashion

10%
Social events

10%
Domestic travelling

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 116 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 39% (1261 €)

Croatia

Summer activities

17%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

15%
Domestic travelling

15%
Summer clothing and fashion

13%
Social events

7%

Spending in relation to other countries: 100 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 34% (434 €)

Denmark

Travelling abroad

18%
Home/holiday furnishings

17%
Domestic travelling

12%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

8%
Summer clothing and fashion

7%

Spending in relation to other countries: 75 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 26% (958 €)

Estonia

Domestic travelling

17%
Summer activities

12%
Well-being services, spa

10%
Travelling abroad

9%
Social events

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 124 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 42% (716 €)

Finland

Domestic travelling

19%
Social events

12%
Summer activities

11%
Summer festivals

10%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

8%

Spending in relation to other countries: 83 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 28% (862 €)

Germany

Summer activities

21%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

17%
Well-being services, spa

10%
Travelling abroad

9%
Domestic travelling

8%

Spending in relation to other countries: 84 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 29% (929 €)

Latvia

Personal or family recreational or sport activities

16%
Domestic travelling

14%
Home/holiday furnishings

12%
Summer clothing and fashion

10%
Gardening or DIY

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 127 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 43% (544 €)

Netherlands

Summer activities

19%
Travelling abroad

15%
Summer clothing and fashion

11%
Financing children’s summer activities

10%
Home/holiday furnishings

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 119 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 40% (1113€)

Norway

Travelling abroad

17%
Recreational investments

12%
Social events

11%
Summer activities

11%
Domestic travelling

10%

Spending in relation to other countries: 107 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 36% (1427 €)

Poland

Domestic travelling

22%
Summer clothing and fashion

11%
Social events

10%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

9%
Travelling abroad

8%

Spending in relation to other countries: 122 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 41% (607 €)

Romania

Domestic travelling

18%
Home/holiday furnishings

15%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

15%
Summer activities

9%
Summer clothing and fashion

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 35 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 12% (119 €)

Spain

Domestic travelling

21%
Summer activities

19%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

11%
Summer clothing and fashion

10%
Travelling abroad

8%

Spending in relation to other countries: 149 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 51% (1047 €)

Sweden

Summer activities

16%
Domestic travelling

15%
Travelling abroad

11%
Social events

10%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

9%

Spending in relation to other countries: 85 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 29% (1022 €)

Summer clothing and fashion

13%
Travelling abroad

12%
Summer activities

12%
Personal or family recreational or sport activities

11%
Social events

11%

Spending in relation to other countries: 114 (FE group = 100)
Spending relative to household income: 39% (1291 €)

How was Ferratum Group Summer Barometer™ 2019 conducted?

• The survey was conducted by Ferratum Group who surveyed its active customers in 17 international countries via a web survey with a standardised questionnaire. Incomes are stated in local currencies, and relative summer consumption is calculated by the ratio of a family’s monthly disposable income in each country. Disposable income was adjusted by each country, individual purchasing power parity is based on 2014 figures by The World Bank.

• Over 22,000 households participated in the survey. Respondents were aged from 18 to over 61. 53% of participants were women. The average available net income of participating households was between €827–3934. The average household size among the respondents was 2.9 persons.

• In addition to demographic factors, respondents were asked about their disposable monthly net income, how much money would be allocated for the summer holiday, what are the main activities this summer and if they are going to use services like Airbnb or online banking while travelling abroad.

• All survey responses were anonymous.

About Ferratum Group:

Ferratum Group is an international provider of mobile banking and digital consumer and small business loans, distributed and managed by mobile devices. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Ferratum has expanded rapidly to operate in 25 countries across Europe, Africa, South and North America and the Asia-Pacific region.

As a pioneer in digital and mobile financial services technology, Ferratum is at the forefront of the digital banking revolution. Ferratum’s mobile bank, launched in 2016, is an innovative mobile banking platform offering a range of banking services, including real time digital payments and transfers, within a single app. It is currently available in five European markets. Ferratum has approximately 794,000 active customers that have an open Mobile Bank account or an active loan balance in the last 12 months (as at 31 March 2019).

Ferratum Group is listed on the Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange under symbol ‘FRU.’ For more information, visit www.ferratumgroup.com.

Contacts:

Ferratum Group
Emmi Kyykkä
Business Support Manager for CEO
T: +41 79 940 6315
E: emmi.kyykka@ferratum.com