Online lending and micro-finance have become a multipurpose solution for customers in Asia. These are the findings of an online survey conducted by Robocash Group in the region earlier this year.
Often borrowing with different needs in mind, men and women in Vietnam still put the purchase of household appliances and electronics first. At the same time, 66% of all respondents in the country prioritized the online segment.
The common purpose of loans that took the highest share of responses among both men and women in Vietnam in 2019 was the purchase of durable goods – household appliances and electronics: 47% and 52%, respectively. Among other countries, such as the Philippines, Indonesia and India that took the part in the survey too, Vietnam has the lowest GDP per capita. It means that an opportunity to equip houses with advanced appliances and electronics remains quite relevant for the local population. At the same time, these results correlate with the overall gender activity in Vietnam. The World Bank states that the majority of men and women (83%) and women (73%) are employed in the country.
The next most important points for women were expenditures on children (20%) and repair costs (8%). The purchase of gadgets and other prestigious items (19%) and impulse buys (13%) prevailed among men.
Overall, the results of the survey show that education and medical services, purchase of electronics and household appliances, and business needs make up the three most common groups of responses in Asia.
Remarkably, men took loans to pay for prestigious items more often than women did – 13% and 6%, respectively. A significant share within it belongs to the purchase of smartphones driving the growth of the Internet economy in developing Asian countries. Besides, men often buy gadgets and other goods in this category, such as jewellery and fashionable clothes, for their family members too.
The least common reasons among Asian women were big purchases such as real estate or vehicles (3%), expenditures on events (3%), small impulse buys (3%), and vacations (1%). Expenses on special occasions turned out to be a male prerogative: 10% took loans to afford vacations, 9% other events.
According to analysts, the outbreak of Covid-19 has undoubtedly affected the purpose of loans and brought essential needs to the forefront. As soon as countries remove restrictions, customers will also gradually recover their consumption activity. Meantime, social distancing has highlighted the significance of the online segment too. It allows the industry to expect an increase in the share of customers who prefer online services from the current rate of 57% across the region.