Thus, to acquire a thermal heating system from the Praktiker chain, priced at some RON 3,500, a person with a monthly income of RON 3,000 will pay GE Money, the financial services division of the U.S. General Electric company, an effective annual rate of 66.3 percent, on a loan granted for 18 months. In this case, the monthly instalment is fixed and worth RON 262 (some €61). The client will repay RON 4,716 (some €1,100) to the non-banking financial institution in one and a half years. The loan can be granted for up to 60 months, in which case the fixed monthly instalment will be of RON 117.63 (about €27). At the end of this period, the client will have paid RON 7,058 (approximately €1,646), twice the borrowed amount.
GE Money has three non-banking financial institutions in Romania and 800 work points in local stores. According to company data, loans granted in stores totalled $28 million (some €18.7 mln) in the first nine months of this year.
