Croix, 11 October 2022 – Against a backdrop of high inflation, Oney, the consumer payment and financing expert and leader in split payment in several European countries, has surveyed a representative sample of the French and European population (France, Spain, Portugal) in partnership with Harris Interactive.

This study reveals the common uncertainties of the French and Europeans that lead them to review their spending downwards for the end of 2022. Split payment (BNPL), which have continued to grow over the past few years, are now an essential solution for supporting French consumption.

  • 1 in 5 consumers expect to spend more in the coming months
  • 44% of French people will make trade-offs on food expenses and 27% on health expenses
  • Almost one in three consumers will turn to financing solutions for major purchases
  • 39% of Europeans plan to pay in instalments by the end of the year
  • Almost 50% of split payment users would not have bought if they could not use this payment facility

By the end of 2022, 44% of French people plan to reduce their food expenses and 27% plan to reduce their health budget

The Oney & Harris Interactive Barometer reveals a strong desire among Europeans to limit their purchases, particularly the so-called constrained expenses, the price of which has risen sharply in recent months. At the beginning of the year, an initial survey revealed that 44% of Europeans intended to adopt a thrifty behavior in 2022, a forecast that has now been confirmed.

Two out of three Europeans now say they plan to cut their energy costs. The French seem to be less exposed to this price explosion than their European neighbors, since 53% of them say they will try to reduce their energy costs by the end of the year, compared to 64% of the Spanish and 73% of the Portuguese.

At the same time, more than half of Europeans say they will seek to reduce some of their spending on pleasure-related consumer goods in the coming months (clothing, decoration, electronic and household equipment, cultural outings, travel), again symptomatic of a sense of limitation coming ahead.

Food and health are also involved, with almost half of French people (44%) saying they will try to reduce their spending on food and almost 30% intending to reduce their health costs at the end of the year. Even more Portuguese and Italians (over 33%) want to reduce their spending on food. 

Therefore Europeans, without significantly cutting back on all their expenses, are adapting their consumption to buy differently and balance their budget in a context of rising prices and strong pressure on their purchasing power. At the beginning of 2022, more than a third of Europeans (38%) thought that their purchasing power would be lower than last year and 75% stated that they would be more careful with their budget in 2022 than in 2021.

Financing consumption is now a well-established trend for French people

At the beginning of the school year in 2022, more than half of French people say they have already used solutions to finance certain purchases (51%), and more than a quarter have used them several times (27%). They are just behind the Portuguese, for whom the practice seems to be even more established, since two thirds of them say they have already used it.

Regarding the type of purchases across all countries, consumer credit is mainly used for unique and one-off purchases (81% of Europeans) and correspond to relatively expensive goods such as vehicle (44%), computer equipment (32%) or furniture (23%).

The use of solutions to finance purchases is therefore now well established in the habits of Europeans and those who do not plan to use consumer credit in the coming months justify this choice by borrowing rates that are too high (35%) as well as a fear of over-indebtedness (30%) or simply the lack of need to take out credit (30%). The credibility of credit organisations is not questioned since 84% of them say they trust them.

Slip payment, a daily ally used by nearly half of the French

Therefore, among the various financing solutions, we can see that the use of split payment is the one that is the most popular.

Indeed, when asked about their plans for the end of the year, almost half of the French (44%) say they want to turn to this method of payment, far ahead of the use of consumer credit (18%). This trend is observed in all the countries surveyed, with 37% of Portuguese and 35% of Spanish respondents.

Europeans intend to use payment in instalments mainly for purchases related to IT products, high-tech and household appliances. For example, 44% of French people who plan to use instalments say they intend to use them primarily for this type of goods, ahead of furniture and decoration (27%) and travel (21%).

If payment in instalments now appears to be a must for the French, it is also a major factor in the choice of where to buy for more than a third of them (34%), who indicate that they will choose first and foremost brands that are offering this type of financing. Today, almost half of French people (49%) even say that they would not have bought from a retailer if it had not offered split payment. This trend is also observed in all three countries surveyed.

Methodology:
 
Harris Interactive survey for Oney, conducted online among three representative samples of the population of each country aged 18 or over, interviewed from 6 to 9 September 2022 for France and from 9 to 14 September 2022 for Spain and Portugal. Quota method and adjustment applied to the following variables: gender, age, income level and region of residence of respondents.

About Oney

We are a different, unique commercial bank. We draw on our original positioning and the expertise we have developed over 38 years to design innovative payment solutions and financial services. Every day, our 2,600 talented people around the world reinvent the bank, for the benefit of a more human relationship, with the mission of “Enabling everyone to improve their daily lives and consume better”. With our 13,000 merchant and e-retailer partners, we support the projects of more than 7.8 million customers in 12 European countries by offering them memorable shopping experiences in stores and online.  Since 2019, we have two shareholders: BPCE with 50.1% and Auchan Holding with 49.9%, bringing together the best of banking and retail. Within Groupe BPCE, Oney is evolving within BPCE Digital & Payments, a new division bringing together payment, digital and data expertise.