Startling Findings On How India Borrows

Yesterday, BankBazaar launched #Moneymood2019, our first yearbook that determines personal finance trends for 2019 based on how India accessed loans and credit cards in 2018. This data will force you to change the way you look at how various demographics are buying credit.

Here are our key takeaways:

1. WOMEN TAKE BIGGER HOME LOANS THAN MEN :

On BankBazaar, the average home loan ticket size where men are primary borrowers is Rs. 22.97 lakh. However, for loans where women are the primary borrowers, the ticket size is a whopping 20% higher at Rs. 27.57 lakh. Why is this? There are plenty of women-friendly home loan schemes were interest rates are lower for female borrowers. There is also a case of double-income families borrowing with the woman as the primary borrower.

2. NON-METROS ARE BORROWING BIGGER PERSONAL LOANS THAN METROS:

BankBazaar data shows that the average loan ticket size for non-metros is Rs. 2.80 lakh. For metros, the number is around 10% smaller for metros at Rs. 2.55 lakh. This means that on average, small town India is hungrier for credit than the big cities.

3. INDIA IS NO LONGER CONTENT WITH HATCHBACKS:

Yesterday, The Times of India reported that India’s No. 1 selling car in 2018 was a sedan, ending years of dominance of the humble hatchback. At BankBazaar, we weren’t surprised by this finding. Moneymood also presented the same conclusion: that Indians are looking for bigger wheels to fulfil bigger aspirations. For this, they’re taking bigger car loans. On BankBazaar, the average car loan ticket for metros was Rs. 5.72 lakh and Rs. 5.21 lakh for non-metros for 2018. This clearly indicates a preference for premium vehicles.

4. SMALL TOWN INDIA LOVES TO TRAVEL

Fifty million Indians are expected to travel abroad by 2020. It’s no wonder many of them are turning to travel credit cards that offer air miles, lounge access, discounted tickets, and travel insurance. In 2018, we saw a whopping 309% rise in travel card applications from non-metros versus a 59% growth from metros.

Did you find this data surprising ? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

You can read the full article in today's Times of India here : https://bit.ly/2WczJAU

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