Raiffeisen sells 30m euros' worth of loans to individuals monthly, like in 2006

Raiffeisen, the seventh bank domestically in terms of assets, Austrian-held, is selling loans worth 30-35m euros to individual customers each month, a level similar with the one registered in 2006, and its representatives say the volume of funding released on this client segment in 2010 is set to top 300m euros at the end of the year. Sales have risen in recent months owing to refinancing deals.

"Volumes have increased significantly since we started promoting the idea of refinancing. There are few clients asking for refinancing just to move from one bank to another, most of them want additional money," stated Răzvan Munteanu, vice-president in charge with retail at Raiffeisen. He specified that on the mortgage loans segment, refinancing deals account for one quarter of new loans.
The amount of retail loans goes up by around 10m euros monthly considering sums paid back by clients come to 20-25m euros.
Munteanu says that as individuals' indebtedness degree is very high, banks are increasingly focusing on strengthening relationships with existing clients and attracting good clients from rivals.