A third of population expects income decrease in six months

About one-third of Portuguese nationals (31%) expect a decrease in income over the next six months, with 74% cutting Christmas spending, according to an Oney Bank report.

The report, conducted by OpinionWay in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Germany concluded that one in four European consumers believes that the public health crisis will affect their income.

In the case of Portugal, about 31% of respondents expect a decrease in income over the next six months, with 14% of Portuguese respondents over 35 showing more optimism than the rest, with the expectation that their income will increase before the end of 2020.

“In the case of non-essential goods, if incomes decrease in the next six months, 74% of the Portuguese say that the first expense to be cut will be in the budget for the Christmas season, followed by electronics products (71%) and expenditure on furniture or decoration (70%),” according to the report.

Due to the crisis, 54% of Portuguese consumers have no intention of increasing their spending, the document said.

At the time of choosing the products price remains the determining factor, within the total of respondents in Portugal, for 80% price is the most important and 82% of the total Portuguese who responded to the survey are willing to prioritise the criterion ‘local/national production’, in expenses related to food.

Among the respondents, one in three wants to resort more frequently to financing solutions, with fractional payment being the most popular option, before deferred payment.

At the same time, 31% of the Portuguese state that they intend to use this solution in the next six months and 24% prefer deferred payment.

The study also analysed the evolution of online shopping, with the Spanish (67%), the Italians (66%) and the Portuguese (62%) proving to be the largest online buyers.

On the other hand, in the last six months in Portugal, 57% used the mobile application more frequently to keep in touch with their bank and 77% of the respondents expressed interest in maintaining remote contact with their bank via email.

This report was conducted through an online questionnaire among consumers aged 18 and over in Portugal, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. By country, about 1,000 people were surveyed between 22 and 30 June 2020.

Oney Bank has been in Portugal since 1994, with approximately 400 employees. Since 22 October 2019, the group has two shareholders: BPCE with 50.1% and Auchan Holding with 49.9% in Oney Bank.