Over the first quarter of 2021, 4finance Group has accrued 5.6 million euro net profit, which is a 55% increase, compared to the same period last year when the figure was at 2.5 million euro. This shows that businesses are returning to pre-pandemic trends.
“The pandemic was a challenging time for Lithuania. But we are also seeing that our clients continue to value our products. By dedicating a great deal of attention to reliability and responsibility, we have managed to maintain correctly regulated loans even during the pandemic. As responsible lenders, we are glad to see that our loaning results have improved,” says Giedrė Štuopė, head of Vivus.lt, one of the brands managed by an online loan company 4finance.
According to G. Štuopė, while many of COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, borrowers in Lithuania have been more responsible in repaying their loans, often even ahead of the scheduled time. This trend clearly reflects that consumers have learnt the lessons of the pandemic as well as how to plan their finances through borrowing the amount actually needed and, if their circumstances allow it, returning the loan in full. In contrast, just a few years ago most customers chose to not repay their loans ahead of time, even if able to do. Instead, they opted for spending the extra funds on other, often non-essential purchases.
The expert observes that the pandemic has reduced the overall borrowing figures but accelerated the transition to online borrowing.
“A large percentage of loans were issued online even before the pandemic started. However, there has always been a segment of people who were used to filling out paper applications. But the pandemic and the closure of physical partner branches meant that consumer habits had to be adapted. As a result, more than half of these clients began borrowing online. Currently, around 95% of customer inquiries are received online,” G. Štuopė explains.
“The changes in the company’s results illustrate our strategic decision to focus on more sustainable consumer loans,” the head of Vivus.lt stated.
