Financial Inclusion Index 2024 (Online Survey)

The study on financial inclusion was conducted by Ipsos on behalf of SCHUFA. During the survey period from March 2024, German-speaking people aged 16 to 74 living in private households in the Federal Republic of Germany were asked about various dimensions of financial inclusion in online interviews (CAWI). The survey covered the following topics in particular: Subjective user satisfaction, financial literacy, trust in financial services and accessibility of financial services. The respondents were selected using a quota sample from the Ipsos Online Access Panel (quota characteristics: age, sex, region, education).<br>I. Financial participation:
1. Usage behavior and satisfaction with financial services: Regular use of various financial services (bank account, online payment methods, investments, savings, loans, financial advice or investment advice, other financial services); obstacles to using the aforementioned financial services (I am not familiar enough with the content, technical obstacles prevent use, financial situation does not allow use, I am concerned about the protection of my data, I do not know, I do not need); satisfaction with the financial services used regularly; bank type of the main account; banking channels used (online banking, mobile banking, telephone banking, stationary banking in bank branches, other forms of banking); barriers to the use of the aforementioned banking channels (do not know enough about the content, technical barriers prevent use, financial situation does not allow use, am concerned about the protection of my data, do not know, do not need); satisfaction with the banking channels used regularly; awareness of the monthly account management fees charged; amount of the monthly account management fees; satisfaction with the amount of the account management fees; overall satisfaction with the amount of fees charged for financial services; methods used for two-factor authentication (authentication app, smart card, SMS, email, TAN generator, fingerprint, face scan, other method, none of these); use of financial apps for banking, managing finances or other financial transactions (e.g. bank app for online banking, multi-banking app for managing different accounts, etc.); reasons for not using financial apps (too complicated, fear for the security of my data, no need for financial apps, lack of technical equipment, other reasons, none of the above).

Online purchases and payment behavior: Use of online purchases; transactions/purchases already made online (contracts concluded, tickets for mobility purchased, tickets for events purchased, food ordered, meals ordered, travel and leisure activities booked, clothing ordered/purchased, electronics ordered/purchased, other transactions/purchases made, none of the above); behavior if the aforementioned transactions or purchases can only be completed online (I make the purchase/completion online, I ask another person to make the purchase/completion for me, I do not make the purchase/completion, does not apply to me/I do not use it); reasons why the purchase/completion would not be made (by myself) (too complicated, never done before, fear for the security of my data, do not have an online payment method, lack technical equipment for it, other reasons, none of the above); preferred payment methods for online purchases (Klarna, Paypal, immediate bank transfer, direct debit, purchase on account, credit card, Apple Pay/Google Pay, other payment methods, none of these); satisfaction with the payment methods used for online purchases; ever used payment option ´installment payment´ or ´pay later´; preferred payment method for in-store purchases (EC card/debit card, cash, credit card, payment via cell phone, other payment method, none of these); satisfaction with the payment methods used for in-store purchases.

Loans: Ever applied for or taken out a loan; reasons why no loan was applied for or taken out (I have never had the need to take out a loan, I did not take out the loan offered due to unattractive conditions, I have applied for a loan before but it was rejected, I have never applied for a loan because I would not get one anyway, I am too afraid of falling into a debt trap by taking out a loan, other reasons); type of loans taken out (installment loan, real estate loan, car leasing loan, education or student loan, debt restructuring loan for credit optimization, other loans); type of last loan; satisfaction with the last loan; behavior when choosing a loan (compared the conditions of different providers before taking out a loan, compared the conditions of different providers via comparison portals before taking out a loan, obtained several concrete loan offers from providers, obtained advice from competent people, informed myself in the trade press or on the Internet, didn´t have much choice because of my lack of creditworthiness); knowledge of how comparison portals work; behavior after a loan has been rejected (receiving precise information about why the loan was rejected, taking a closer look at one´s own creditworthiness in the course of the loan rejection, taking measures to improve one´s own creditworthiness, even if this does not change the granting of the loan); time of the last experience with overdraft facilities.

2. Financial literacy: Financial behavior (have a good overview of my income and expenses, would like more information about financial topics that are tailored to me, have been taught too little about money and finance at school, easily master challenges from my bank (e.g. verification apps or online identification procedures), have already used price comparisons/comparison portals when opening an account or taking out a loan/insurance, can solve problems with my financial products or payment methods independently, if problems arise with my financial products or payment methods, I would know how to complain); confidence in dealing with different areas (opening a bank account, taking out a mobile phone contract, taking out a loan, paying in installments or paying later for online purchases, different ways of investing money, e.g. call money account, savings book, shares, investment funds); topic in the area of finance and services that the interviewee knows little about or does not understand (open); difficulties in dealing with financial information (finding information about financial products, understanding information about the conditions of financial products, assessing which financial product suits one´s needs, selecting a suitable financial product using the information available); agreement with statements about financial decisions (in financial decisions that affect me I am dependent on the help of others, I am able to act, I know what is right and wrong, I can react quickly, I understand what is at stake, my financial decisions are accepted or respected by others, in financial issues that affect me I am included, I am left out, I am an active part of society, I understand what is at stake, as equal as most others); decision-making in household financial decisions; self-assessment of competence in dealing with digital systems (I am good at using digital systems, I find it easy to get used to new digital systems, I can communicate information via different media formats, I am good at protecting private data when dealing with digital systems, I am good at solving problems that arise with digital systems independently, I am often asked for my expertise in my circle of acquaintances in case of questions about digital systems); overconfidence (time value of money, interest on a loan, interest calculation, compound interest effect); knowledge test on: risk and return, inflation and loss of purchasing power, risk diversification, inflation and wealth; overconfidence (loans and interest, definition of overdraft facility).

3. Trust and relationship with the bank: Agreement with the following statements regarding the relationship with the bank (my bank treats me fairly, my bank would never harm me, my bank advisor would never harm me, I do not trust my bank and would like to change); trust items on online payment methods, loans, online banking, stationary banking (easy to understand, secure, reliable, trustworthy, good personal knowledge).

4. Hurdles: Hurdles in online banking in relation to: Account activation after account setup, third-party help to access online banking, tailoring the bank´s website to personal needs, handling the bank´s website, tailoring the bank app to personal needs, handling the bank app, tailoring the selection of available security features to personal needs, use of security features and the conversions in online banking or online payment methods; hurdles in payment methods in stores and online purchases; hurdles in cash withdrawals and stationary banking in terms of: ATM functionality and accessibility, number of ATMs nearby, bank branch opening hours, range of bank branches nearby, withdrawing cash at the supermarket checkout; perception of communication with the bank (exchange with the bank via the preferred communication channel, my bank offers communication channels that I can use well, my bank communicates with me in a language that I understand well, average time needed to clarify concerns is reasonable, average time needed to open an account is reasonable, could not clarify my concern with my bank); subjective hurdles in dealing with finances and banks (often have the impression that it´s down to me if something doesn´t work with the bank, have been ashamed to go to the bank advisor with a request, didn´t understand something when talking to the customer advisor at the bank and didn´t dare to ask).

II. Background on dealing with finances:
1. Financial interest (familiarity with finance, interest in financial topics and interest in information); sources of financial information (educational institutions, parents resp. family, bank, media, internet search engines, social networks, influencers, friends, tax office, anonymous advice services, Schufa, comparison portals on the internet, trading app, other); self-assessment of personal wealth; personal financial situation (living beyond one´s means, borrowing large amounts of money from people in personal environment, building up financial reserves, difficulties paying the rent, delaying payment of bills, having to draw on savings); difficulty to raise € 2,500 within the next 30 days/7 days; sources of income (e.g. wages/salary, pension payments, maintenance payments, interest or dividends from assets, etc.); insurance policies taken out (e.g. household contents insurance, private supplementary health insurance, liability insurance, etc.); caring for a relative; material deprivation (internet available in the home, car, furniture, clothes, going out with friends and relatives or eating out, regular paid leisure activities, holidays, protein-rich meals, unplanned expenses, heating costs, arrears).

2. Environment and influence: Agreement with statements about the personal environment (I know at least one example of negative handling of money in my immediate environment, I have someone in my environment who knows a lot about finances and whose recommendations I follow, if I make mistakes in my handling of finances, I have an environment that would catch me); imprinting in childhood on handling finances (my parents talked to me about handling finances, I have the impression that no one ever taught me how to handle money, I learned from my parents that you have to be careful when handling money); formative experiences with paying in installments for online purchases or with the pay later function (ever forgotten the payment deadline, remembering an outstanding payment that I didn´t have the money to pay, ever lost track of my own spending and finances, ever been tempted to buy useless goods and products); formative experiences of over-indebtedness (missed payment deadlines and received reminders, dunning and/or enforcement notice served, negative Schufa entry, no longer able to conclude contracts, only able to pay in advance/immediate transfer or cash on delivery); formative experiences: cybercrime: experienced victimization regarding theft of bank account access data, phishing and identity theft.

III. Weighting question: Weighting of participation dimensions (allocation of 100 points to the following five aspects according to their importance: that I am enabled to make financial decisions that suit me, that I can use financial services without obstacles, that financial services meet my needs, that I can trust financial service providers, that I am involved in financial matters).

Demography: sex; age; age categories, federal state; education: highest school-leaving qualification, education low, medium, high; employment status; monthly net household income; share of energy costs; subjective household income; household size; German nationality; other nationality; country of birth Germany; migration background: parents born in Germany, other country of birth of father and mother; marital status, systemically relevant profession.

Additionally coded were: Respondent ID; weighting factor; overall variable for the individual financial services and banking channels (do I use, do I not use due to hurdles, do I not need); SCHUFA Financial Inclusion Index (This indicates the extent to which individual population groups participate in financial services (banking, payment, borrowing): The index comprises four dimensions of financial inclusion (user satisfaction, financial literacy, trust, absence of hurdles), each with 3 to 6 indicators (sub-dimensions).