Financing "green" vehicles: banks ready to adapt their credit offers

French banks, challenged in recent days to further support the energy transition, are working to adapt their credit offers to promote the financing of "green" vehicles, said Tuesday the French Banking Federation (FBF).

Banks "are currently working to integrate the pre-financing of the conversion premium in their credit offers and thus better support the French in the energy transition, in compliance with competition law, "said a spokesman for the federation.

The conversion bonus is intended to encourage the replacement of older vehicles with cleaner vehicles. In practice, the buyer who discards an old polluting vehicle can benefit from this bonus up to 2500 euros. Its amount depends on the performance of the vehicle acquired in terms of CO2 emissions and the tax situation of the applicant. In mid-November, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that it could go up to 4000 euros for the most modest households.

Limited room for maneuver

Last week, several parliamentarians of the majority had called on the government to put pressure on banks to develop new types of loans, for example micro-loans at very low rates for the purchase of less polluting carsin a context of protest against the movement of yellow vests.

An exchange was held Thursday on the subject between representatives of the banking sector and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The room for maneuver is however limited, many banking institutions already offering credit offers at reduced rates and especially for the financing of cleaner vehicles, says a source in the sector.