Financial and banking markets in post-EU integration

Opportunity: New modern financial tools are needed on the fast developing Romanian market - Credits

I lived for the last 10 years of my life in the US and I have become fairly anchored in the banking/credit system as a way to build what Americans call the “credit history”. I had savings and banking accounts, student loans, car loans, several credit cards, retail credit, stock and funds investment, the whole drill. Being a well informed customer I developed a high “credit score” and I knew at any time what opportunities were out there from this standpoint.

Once a year I came back to Romania to see my family and I thought to myself that it would be a good idea to invest in an apartment in Bucharest. In my naiveté, I assumed it shouldn’t be a problem to get credit to buy an apartment in Bucharest with the level of income from Silicon Valley. Wrong! Banks in Romania did not have the right tools to consider my income from outside the country; they wanted proof that I had the needed level of income in Romania for the last two years. How could I, if I lived outside the country? After a kafkian discussion with the bank representative I still could not believe that I could not get a multi-year credit equal to my yearly income. Stubborn as I am, I did not stop there, I insisted, trying to find a way. To my disbelief and no matter how creative I was I could not find any solution: owning a company that was profitable, cash collateral, a rich friend who would vouch for me, three properties that brought in monthly rent or any other sources of income, did not count. Only the salary written on your “working book” (the “working book” is a government issued document that shows your work/salary history). So, I was stuck. That was last year.

Written by Magda


3 Responses to “Financial and banking markets in post-EU integration”

  1. Magda Marcu Says:
    November 15th, 2006 at 5:32 pm

    …and I am not the only one who considers the financial and banking market in Romania to be hot. Unicredit, who figured this out early, seems to have had a great year.  They just announced net profits of 1,43 billion euros for Central and Eastern Europe for the third trimester, 37.8% higher then the same period of last year.  If you read Romanian, here is the article

  2. Steve Says:
    November 15th, 2006 at 9:20 pm

    Just a couple of weeks ago… the “Romania-Economics” discussion group on Yahoo had posts from multiple disapointed loan seekers complaining about a similar experience. Most seemed credit worthy but the banks were not flexible.

    The Romania-Economics discussion group can be found @:

    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/romania-economics/

  3. Online banking? | Business Ideas in Romania Says:
    December 22nd, 2006 at 5:35 pm

    [...] Banking capabilities in Romania are still a challenge for me. Lately I was in the strange situation to not be able to use my own money immediately. I opened a personal and a corporate account in Constanta. At the time I did not think that the physical location of the bank could be so important. I came to Bucharest and one day I ran low on cash so I am thinking I should take some out from my bank account. I stopped by the first bank office I saw, and the circus started. – Do you have an account with us? - Yes. - What’s your account number? – 123xxxxx. – This account was not opened here. – Yes, I know I opened it at your bank’s office in Constanta. – Aaa, then you have to fill in a form and we need to fax it to Constanta and wait for their answer (you can guess where I am going with this…..). [...]

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