Concepts and definitions
- Active card accounts
Active card accounts include all accounts that have been used at least once during the year.
- Active card accounts
Active card accounts include all accounts that have been used at least once during the year.
- Actual credit card
Actual credit cards usually offer flexible credit for a period of at least one month and as long as several years. Most of the retail credit cards belong to this category.
Whether a card should be categorised as a charge card or a credit card is a matter of judgement when it comes to cards that combine features of both charge and credit cards.
- Charge card
Charge cards usually offer interest free credit of up to two months (e.g. Visa, and customer cards provided by petroleum companies).
Whether a card should be categorised as a charge card or a credit card is a matter of judgement when it comes to cards that combine features of both charge and credit cards.
- Claims in respect of credit cards
Claims of the reporting credit institution in respect of overdrafts of customers who have entered into a credit card agreement.
- Credit card debt
Unpaid portion of the credit card debt at the end of the year. Includes unpaid interests added to the debt capital by the credit card company.
- Credit card debt
Unpaid portion of the credit card debt at the end of the year. Includes unpaid interests added to the debt capital by the credit card company.
- Financial leasing
An arrangement whereby a finance company acquires an asset that the lessee needs, and leases it to the lessee under a long-term leasing contract. The main categories of assets subject to financial leasing in Finland are machinery, installations and motor vehicles. Buildings and land are among the assets that may be the subject of lease. The leaser finances his acquisition by leasing the asset to the lessee.
The finance company retains ownership of the asset, and ownership is normally not transferred to the lessee after the expiration of the contract. The lessee has the right to use the asset over the lease period, which usually covers all of the economic lifetime of the asset.
- Financial leasing
An arrangement whereby a finance company acquires an asset that the lessee needs, and leases it to the lessee under a long-term leasing contract. The main categories of assets subject to financial leasing in Finland are machinery, installations and motor vehicles. Buildings and land are among the assets that may be the subject of lease. The leaser finances his acquisition by leasing the asset to the lessee.
The finance company retains ownership of the asset, and ownership is normally not transferred to the lessee after the expiration of the contract. The lessee has the right to use the asset over the lease period, which usually covers all of the economic lifetime of the asset.
- General credit cards
General credit cards are usually issued by bank-owned financial companies and are accepted by nearly all retailers. The category is based on the classification used by the Finnish Bankers' Association (Cf. the FBA's "Bank cards" brochure).
- Leasing assets
The undepreciated balance of the acquisition cost of the assets subject to lease, including any advance payments made in respect of the assets.
- Operational leasing
A short term contract, closely resembling a rental contract, that can be revoked by the lessee before the end of contract period if he so wishes. The asset can be leased to several successive lessees, meaning that the leasing period usually does not cover the asset's entire economic lifetime. The lessee retains his right to revoke the contract. The leasing charges usually include both service and rental costs.
- Outstanding credit
The item "outstanding credit" includes outstanding euro denominated credit and outstanding foreign currency denominated credit. Euro denominated credit includes euro denominated loans and advances, loans granted from central government funds, as well as bonds and debentures classified as investments. Foreign currency denominated credit includes foreign currency denominated loans and advances, as well as foreign currency denominated bonds classified as investments.
The item "outstanding loans", both euro and foreign currency denominated, includes overdrafts, bills of exchange, promissory notes and other loans.
The item "bonds classified as investments" includes bonds and debentures that are recorded as investment assets. In the case of credit institutions, the item includes transferable bonds and debentures. In the case of insurance companies, the item includes bonds and debentures classified as investments.
Three different concepts of outstanding credit are used for statistical purposes.
1. Total lending:
This item includes all loans granted by a sector, i.e.:- loans to the public,
- loans to foreign borrowers,
- loans between financial institutions, central government and social security funds.
Loans granted from central government funds are included twice in total lending:
a) first as central government credit to the banking sector, and a second time as loans from the banking sector to the public,
b) first as central government credit to the municipal sector, and a second time as loans to the public.2. Loans to the public:
Loans to the public equals total lending minus loans to foreign borrowers and overlapping credit (loans between financial institutions, central government and social security funds as well as loans intermediated from central government funds).3. Loans to enterprises and entrepreneur households:
This item includes loans to sectors 1 (enterprises) and 51 (households of employers and own-account workers). The item appears as a sum total in tables where loans are classified by the borrower's economic activity.Loans to sectors 1 and 51 include housing loans granted to these sectors.
- Property leasing
A form of financial leasing of immovable property. Sale and leaseback of immovable property is an arrangement where the owner of a property sells the property to a finance company and immediately leases it back. The lessee continues to hold and use the property throughout the entire leasing period. The lessee usually retains the option to repurchase the property subject to certain conditions.
Specified data on property leasing and other sale and lease back activity were collected in the statistics on financial leasing until 2008. From 2009 onwards these are included in other financial leasing activity in the statistics.
- Retail credit card
Retail credit cards are accepted at designated retail outlets. Retail credit cards usually offer interest-bearing credit of more than two months.
- Small loan company
A company whose principal business activity is granting of small or smallish unsecured consumer credits with a typical original maturity, or repayment term, of less than three months. These loans are typically paid back in one or just a couple of instalments. In addition, the loans generally carry no actual nominal rate of interest, but all their costs usually arise from other expenses, such as handling and processing fees, and service and SMS charges. The services of a small loan company can typically be ordered by SMS or via the Internet, whereby the loan is at the client's disposal very quickly.
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF):
Financial activities [e-publication].
ISSN=2323-9867. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 9.5.2013].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/rato/kas_en.html.
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