BRD tests consumer lending market with 7% interest for RON

French BRD-SocGen, the second biggest bank domestically in terms of assets, is trying to breathe life into RON consumer lending with an interest rate of 7% per annum, a fixed one, within a promotional campaign carried out until late April. “We’re checking out to see whether the market is stagnating because of demand or prices. We’re trying to resuscitate consumer lending,” says Lucian Croitoru, head of BRD’s commercial department. In its standard offer, BRD sells RON consumer loans with a 9.9% fixed interest for maturities of up to four years. For repayment periods of between four and seven years, the interest stands at 11% per annum, unchanged over the entire period. On the entire market, interests for RON consumer loans rarely go below the two-digit level. The consumer loan BRD sells as part of the promotional campaign, called “Expresso de primavara” (Spring Espresso), is granted over a five-year period and clients can borrow between 600 and 60,000 RON.