Bank customers who want to bridge financial bottlenecks with an installment loan often have a choice: Financial institutions with a branch network usually have both online and branch offerings. The current test shows that a comparison is worthwhile.
Interest rates, credit facilities and online service: Overall, in a test by the German Institute for Service Quality, the branch banks still got a good result (70.1 points) for the installment loans on offer. Five financial institutions secure the quality rating “good”, three are satisfactory and one regional branch bank does not get more than an adequate result. Only the online service could be tested at seven regional banks because they did not provide any information on their conditions.
In every scenario examined, the national branch banks offer the most attractive interest rates with different maturities and loan amounts. The highest effective interest rate in the test of 8.64 percent comes from a regional institute. The online installment loans do not automatically offer a more attractive effective interest rate. At four branch banks, the interest rates for online and branch products are identical. Four institutes, on the other hand, offer savings potential with an online degree. At a bank, the branch conditions are even better than on the Internet.
The websites of most branch banks convince with a high information value. For example, with one exception, all institutes offer a loan calculator, an overview of conditions and a sample offer. There is some catching up to do when it comes to the user-friendliness of the websites – the industry only achieves a satisfactory result here.
Out of 16 branch banks tested, ten secured the online service verdict of “good”, a further five cut “satisfactory” and only one institute achieved an adequate online service result. Targobank is the leader here, followed by Postbank and Commerzbank in second and third place. Markus Hamer, Managing Director of the German Institute for Service Quality, takes stock: “Even loyal branch bank customers can choose between the loan offers of both sales channels. When looking for attractive interest rates, interested parties can at least occasionally be happier with the bank’s online offer .”
The Sparda-Bank Hamburg is the test winner with the quality rating “good”. The financial institution scores with good credit conditions – both in the branch and in online sales. In all scenarios examined, the bank offers interest rates that are independent of creditworthiness and remain the same. The credit facilities include free annual account statements and the possibility of special repayments. The online service also achieves a good result thanks to the website with a high level of information.
Targobank took second place as the best national bank (quality rating: “good”). The credit conditions are particularly convincing in online sales. The institute offers the highest maximum loan amount as well as the highest flexibility during the loan term in comparison. The website is clearly and visually appealing and offers well-structured content. A loan request can also be initiated online.
Hypovereinsbank is in third place, also with a good overall result. In branch sales, the bank offers the most attractive interest rates across all scenarios as well as an extended right of withdrawal of 28 days. The financial institution also scores online with understandable and comprehensive content – product information is available for download.
