Men named Kevin receive one or more financing offers on only 61 percent of their loan inquiries. No other of the 50 most common men’s first names have such a low supply rate. This is shown by an evaluation of over 100,000 installment loan inquiries by Verivox. For the study, the 50 most common names of men and women who applied for a loan via the Heidelberg comparison portal were evaluated. For each of the first names, 200 to 2,000 credit inquiries were included in the evaluation.
It is comparatively seldom that anyone interested in a loan by the name of Marcel (65 percent), Nico and Pascal (67 percent each) receive a financing offer. For women who are called Jasmin, almost every second loan application comes to nothing. With an offer rate of less than 60 percent, applicants named Jessica and Michelle are often denied the desired loan. In contrast, men named Dirk almost always get a loan approval. Only about every tenth financing request from them remains without a bank offer. Among women, the offer rate for women interested in credit named Birgit is the highest at 81 percent. In total, 72 percent of all those interested in applying for an installment loan via Verivox received at least one financing offer, the comparison portal reports.
“Of course, the first name does not play a role for banks when checking a loan request,” emphasizes Oliver Maier, Managing Director of Verivox Finanzvergleich GmbH. Above all, the age structure is reflected in the different supply rates. Names that are particularly widespread among younger adults aged around 30 have a lower offer rate, while prospects with an average age between 45 and 55 are at the top of the ranking. “The most important criteria for assessing creditworthiness include security and the amount of monthly income. Young people are more likely to work on fixed-term contracts and earn less on average than older people, who have often already made several career steps, ”explains Maier.
The gender comparison also shows how much income affects the loan amount. On average, women who have applied for a loan via Verivox earn 1,878 euros and thus 514 euros (22 percent) less than men. As a result, the average loan amount for women is more than 3,000 euros lower. In addition, women only receive an offer in response to their loan request in 68 percent of all cases. For men, the proportion is five percentage points higher.
The legislature requires the banks to check the creditworthiness – i.e. the creditworthiness – of the applicant. Money is only given to those who can afford the installments on a long-term basis. According to the credit agency Schufa, 97.9 percent of all debtors also pay back their loans. However, the banks do not always apply the same standards when checking creditworthiness. In the end, this means different credit costs for consumers. According to the Bundesbank, the banks are currently charging an average of 5.54 percent interest on an installment loan. For a loan of 15,000 euros with a term of five years, this corresponds to a total of 2,151 euros in interest costs. But whoever compares will get away with an effective interest rate of 2.99 percent or cheaper, according to Verivox. That corresponds to a saving of almost 1000 euros.
“A second borrower with his own income improves that Creditworthiness. Then both stand together for the loan. For the bank, this reduces the risk that it will not get its money back and it can offer a lower interest rate, ”advises Maier. Consumers who complete their loan in pairs pay, on average, 21 percent less interest than those who take out the loan alone. “The second borrower doesn’t necessarily have to be the spouse and life partner. Family members and close friends are also an option, ”explains the loan expert.
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