site.bta66% of Bulgarians, 46% of EU Citizens Have Easy Access to Cash Withdrawals - Poll

The majority of Bulgarians had very easy access to cash withdrawals from ATMs and bank branches where they lived. Some 66% of Bulgarians said that such withdrawals were "very easy", while the average level of EU citizens offering the same answer was 46%. This is according to the latest Eurobarometer survey, conducted among respondents across the EU between May 30 and June 14.

On average, 29% of Bulgarians said they had "rather easy access" to such financial services, compared to 40% of EU residents. Some 4% of Bulgarians said they had "rather difficult" access to such services compared to 10% of EU residents. Only 1% of Bulgarians surveyed rated their access to cash withdrawals as "very difficult", compared to an EU average of 3%.

The survey also looked into whether citizens' basic consumer rights were violated when carrying out financial transactions such as opening a bank account, transferring money, taking out a loan or buying insurance products.

Some 35% of Bulgarians said that their rights had been violated when using any of the listed financial services, while in the EU 19% reported their rights violated. Just over half of the surveyed Bulgarians, however, did not think that their rights had been violated in such situations, while in the EU this share is 64%.

Of the Bulgarians who indicated that they had been subject to a violation of fundamental rights in financial transactions, only 9% had raised a complaint with a national authority. This share among EU citizens was 16%.

For 46% of Bulgarians the main sources used to obtain information when making decisions on personal finance were specialised platforms or publications providing product comparisons (magazines, websites, etc.). This share in the EU was 36%.

Some 34% of Bulgarians relied on a recommendation from a friend - almost to the 35% in the EU.

More Bulgarians, 23%, relied on advertisements or brochures to get information about a particular financial product, compared to the 14% of EU citizens.

Social media was a source of information for 7% of the surveyed Bulgarians, compared to an average 5% for the EU.