To help the Latvian public reach their personal financial goals and save more successfully, Citadele Bank has created an interactive online platform, www.finoterapija.lv. Finoterapija is a free automated consultation during which, after filling in a form on the website, people will be able to consider and set their financial priorities, allowing finoterapija to offer the best possible solutions.
Bank savings confirm that the well-being of the Latvian public has increased since the previous financial crisis. For example, before 2009, 300% more was issued in loans than kept in savings, whereas now this indicator is under 100%. Total savings of the Latvian public reached 4.4 billion Euro before 2008, while now this sum has almost doubled, coming to more than 7.3 billion Euro. This trend is evident in all the Baltic states.
Meanwhile, investment in voluntary investment assets—cumulative life insurance, pillar 3 pensions and other financial instruments—make up only around 10% of savings in Latvia. In neighbouring Lithuania, this proportion is over 16%, while in Estonia it is close to 15%. In Germany, which is seen by financiers as a very conservative society, this figure is 46%, while in another close neighbouring country, Sweden, the figure is over 60%. The Latvian public has large potential to save more intelligently to increase their future income.
Kārlis Purgailis, Chairman of the Board of Citadele subsidiary CBL Asset Management: “If we have savings, then this also raises the question: can we manage them effectively enough? The interest rate situation in the financial sector has long been negative, so banks are paying almost nothing for clients’ deposits. Currently, due to inflation (2.3% in Latvia this year), people are losing the value of their money if they simply keep it in a current account. If we simply spend, we may again find ourselves in the same situation as in 2008. Investing in real estate, forests, agriculture is a good idea, but these investments require large sums of money upfront, and they also don’t offer the option of gradually adding to your savings by adding a set amount every month to your initial savings. The logical answer, which has been acknowledged and practised for decades by Western society, is the financial markets and financial instruments. Here, sadly, understanding of these tools is still at a very low level, and this is also reflected in statistics.”
Using modern technological advances and algorithms developed by the Bank, uniting these with many years of professional financial expertise, Citadele has created finoterapija. After entering the interactive platform www.finoterapija.lv and answering some specific questions, visitors will be assisted in determining which of the savings and investment products offered by the Citadele Group best fit their current financial situation, future goals, “appetite” for risk, and knowledge. Next, the visitor will be offered the chance to cooperate on the creation of a detailed, specific plan on how to achieve personal financial dreams. Anyone can investigate the potential opportunities and gain valuable advice on how best to optimise their savings.
The financial planning services offered by finoterapija are free. The service does not require the personalised advice received to be put into action if the person doesn’t so choose. Citadele invites anyone to test out this opportunity: start with receiving personalised advice, consider the suggestions and then choose how best to control savings and investments.