1. Private Sector Development Specialist
What Does the Financial Capability Survey Tell Us About Financial Consumer Protection in Bulgaria and Romania?
Evgeni Evgeniev
Private Sector Development Specialist
The World Bank
December 14, 2011

2. OVERVIEW Improving the Global Financial Consumer Protection System
Survey Results on Financial Capability of the Consumer in Romania and Bulgaria
Key Challenges

3. Improving the Global FCP System
The Global Finance Crisis
and the link to:
Financial Education
Financial Capability
Regulation & Supervision
Consumer Protection
Stability of the Financial System

4. Financial Capability Consumer Survey in Romania and Bulgaria: Methodology
Survey implementation: May-June 2010
Comparable survey questionnaire
National representative survey: random, two-staged, stratified, 1,500 respondents in Bulgaria (95% response rate) and 2,500 respondents in Romania (response rate 82%)
Additional Booster (16-17 year-olds): Bulgaria (186 interviews) and Romania (148 interviews)
Socio-demographics of the survey:
Occupational status
Education
Ethnicity
Age
Per capital monthly household income
Respondent’s monthly Income

5. Pillar #1:LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR

6. Trust in the Private Financial System Needs to Improve
Romania Bulgaria

7. Quality of of Financial Services Needs to Increase
Romania Bulgaria

8. Pillar #2: LEVEL OF INFORMATION

9. Bulgarian consumers prefer to receive information on financial products and services from info materials, internet, and friends and relatives

10. Romania consumers prefer to obtain information about financial services/products from newspapers, magazines, friends and relatives First choice Second choice

11. Capital Market Indices are among the Least followed Tendencies By Consumers In Romania and Bulgaria

12. Over 75% of Bulgarian and Romanian consumers talk once a month/less or never about financial institutions and services when they meet friends, family, and colleagues?

13. Pillar #3: FINANCIAL LITERACY

14. 52% of Consumers in Romania and 46% of Consumers in Bulgaria indicated unsatisfactory and no knowledge when they were asked about their financial literacy level

15. Pillar #4: HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

16. Large majority of the Consumers in Romania and Bulgaria have a family financial plan for the month

17. 67% in Romania and 37% in Bulgaria do not keep records but have a general understanding what is their income/expenditures Romania Bulgaria

18. 79% of consumers in Bulgaria will cut down expenses and save if tomorrow their household income is suddenly reduced by a quarter for a period of 3 months or more

19. 97% оf consumers in Romania will do nothing special if tomorrow their household income is suddenly reduced by a quarter for a period of 3 months or more

20. Government Action Plan
Key Challenges
Government Action Plan
Educating the Consumer
Engaging Financial Institutions

21. Private Sector Development Specialist
Thank you!
Evgeni Evgeniev
Private Sector Development Specialist
The World Bank