Non-bank crediting has become popular in Latvia as well as in other European countries due to various economic and social factors. Since the banks in recent years have introduced much stricter lending conditions, non-bank crediting sector has experienced a significant increase not only in Latvia but also in other European and world countries. Non-bank crediting market actively began to develop through a wide promotion of consumer credits in the major mass media; thus, creating human interest in the availability of fast and easy processable credits. Non-bank credit companies without customer deposits have transformed the present credit market, since a number of new players entered the market testing new business and crediting models and providing solutions to credit-challenged customers. The research aim is to study the non-bank consumer crediting trends in Latvia and it employs a monographic descriptive method as well as the methods of analysis and synthesis and graphics. The research results demonstrate that the popularity of non-bank credits is still growing among consumers, since the total amounts of non-bank credits disbursed for the first time have increased by EUR 116.61 million or 33.18% for the period 2012-2015 with distance credits being the most demanded credit type accounting for approximately 40% of all non-bank credits. Non-bank credit market is saturated and there is a fierce competition between non-bank crediting companies in terms of interest rates, crediting conditions and other factors.

The necessity of the research is to determine by the fact in Latvia there is a strong growth in bank credit to the private sector like in several transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Its implications for macroeconomic development and financial stability can be ambiguous. The aim of the research is to find possible scenarios for positive credit (to private sector) growth implications for macroeconomic development and financial stability in Latvia. Attainment of the objective comprises analysis of available statistical data about Latvia, identification of factors affecting bank credit growth following up some recent researches and modelling scenarios how the credit growth could facilitate further economic development in Latvia. This paper presents only recent trends in bank credit to the private sector in Latvia and evaluates some of the factors affecting these trends. It does not provide updated practical models and scenarios because the research has been started only recently.

Due to the globalization, the financial sector has undergone major changes in the way services are provided and delivered. Customers increasingly prefer to receive services remotely, which is a more convenient and faster way, but the majority of European banks are not ready to provide it. 90% of European banks invest less than 0.5% of total spending on service digitization; therefore, only 20 – 40% of the processes are digitized. The service digitization can be a major challenge for banks in the future. Only banks that provide a full range of digitized services will be able to increase profitability and revenues and reduce costs. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the satisfaction of international corporate customers and define the role of digitized services to improve international activities of banks. Quantitative and qualitative research methods, including the statistical data analysis, graphical analysis, linear and multiple regression analysis, correlation, comparison and grouping methods, as well as survey have been used for the research, and SPSS 20 has been used for data processing. So far there are no analyses of the digitized services in Latvia that would be based on international customer experience and needs. The results of the research concluded that the higher usefulness indicator, the higher is the possibility that international corporate customers will continue to use internet banking services. The digitized services strategy ensures the availability of essential daily digitized services in internet banking and ensures the savings in time and in financial resources for the bank and its international corporate customers.

The sector of agriculture is one of the most crucial in the context of ensuring food security as well as in the care for sustainable development. The food security can be improved through several aspects, one of them being the agriculture system transition, implementing more and more regenerative measures. From the agriculture transition, due to the efforts needed to achieve the expected level of green transition, farmers themselves are expected to benefit less than the future society and nature in a whole. Yet both financial institutions and agriculture companies have not reached a common understanding, what requirements should be in place to establish mutually beneficial financial products to achieve the expected level of transition in a timely manner. The aim of this study is to evaluate funding options for agriculture transition in Baltic countries – Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In total, for screening purposes, 29 different Banks operating in the Baltics were identified. The analysis of the financial product purposes provides a high-level perception, that loans, even if not indicating signs of support for green transition, may still support the improvements of overall country and society sustainability. The expert judgement was used to find potential links with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) identifying the potential SDGs that could be tackled when providing the financing to the specific purpose. Only two banks are observed to provide financial products that can be assessed as focused on green transition, and this research shows that financial products for agriculture companies willing to transition to sustainability are not broadly available.