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Banking district in Frankfurt am Main: Loans are often rejected across the board
Photo: Helmut Fricke / dpa
Older people are increasingly at a disadvantage when it comes to bank lending. This is shown by a study by the Institute for Financial Services, which is reported by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. According to the survey, 55 percent of customers confirmed the existence of age limits when granting consumer loans, and 71 percent confirm this in the case of real estate loans. According to the study, the average age limit for granting consumer and real estate loans is 67 years. The survey participants were customers of a total of 100 different banks.
According to the study, increasing branch closures, mostly in rural areas, also lead to disadvantages due to age. Especially for older borrowers, access to advice is more difficult. Also, loan applications from older people would be rejected in some cases without individual checks.
"The institute's study is a warning signal because it shows that older people often no longer get loans across the board," said the head of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, Ferda Ataman, the RND. This could, among other things, lead to older homeowners who would have to renew their heating, for example, get serious problems.
"Of course, banks should continue to be able to check the creditworthiness of their customers in the future," Ataman emphasized. But blanket rejections because of age are wrong. Ataman proposed to amend the General Equal Treatment Act in order to prevent blanket refusals of loans due to age in the future. In addition, banks should have to justify refusals of loans more transparently in the future.
mik/AFP