Credit intermediation has become an important part of European retail lending markets, particularly in mortgage finance. Yet, despite the common framework established by the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD) and the Consumer Credit Directive (CCD), national markets still differ considerably in their structure, regulatory environment and level of digitalisation.

It was against this background that FECIF recently conducted a survey covering ten European markets. Our aim was to gain a clearer picture of how credit intermediation works across Europe and, more importantly, to identify the common trends and challenges behind sometimes very different national market structures.

The findings point to a clear key message. Credit intermediaries have become an integral and increasingly important part of mortgage distribution in Europe, yet their role is not reflected in…