Our international markets

Central Europe

Our largest and most established markets are the four Central European markets - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. They joined the European Union in May 2004 and boast rapidly growing, yet relatively undeveloped, consumer credit markets with further potential for growth. We now have over 1.4 million customers in this region.

Home credit didn't exist here before Provident moved in. For the first time, customers had a quick, convenient alternative to local banks or borrowing money from friends or family.

Many customers in Central Europe live in urban areas which lends itself well to our home credit operation. We've also benefited from the high calibre of available employees and a culture that values responsible borrowing and repayment.

Mexico

Mexico has the potential to be our largest market to date and with 524,000 customers already, it shows that Mexican customers value the products and personal service we provide.  Mexico has a population of 106 million and the potential consumer credit market is growing as alternatives to borrowing from family and friends are introduced.

We have home credit operations in two regions - Puebla and Guadelajara.  Our plan is to continue this expansion by rolling out our business into other areas of Mexico to create five regions.

Romania

We began our first Eastern European venture in April 2006 with a pilot home credit operation in Romania.  The consumer credit market is growing and with a population of 22 million, we see potential for our simple, affordable financial products in this market. So far, we have 164,000 customers in Romania and having monitored the pilot operation closely decided to roll out the business nationally in 2007.