The survey, conducted in September on a sample of 1,000 residents of Croatia, was part of the international FMDS (Financial Market Data Service) project for 2005.
Fifty-seven per cent of respondents said they were not saving money in any way, while 16% said they were paying life insurance as a way of saving.
Twenty-six per cent of respondents said they were repaying a cash, car, housing or some other kind of loan, while 42% said they were using bank overdraft facilities.
Most of the citizens, about 82%, use bank services, 76% have a current account, 59% have a debit card, 39% have cheques, 21% a money transfer account, and 20% have credit cards.
Eight per cent of "the banking population" use telebanking.
GfK said that the number of people using cheques had dropped over the past six years, when the agency started monitoring the Croatian banking market, while the overdraft user segment remained stable.
At the same time, the number of users of current accounts and debit cards has been on the rise, whereas the number of users of fixed-term savings has been stable.
The number of private citizens who choose their main bank on their own has increased to 59% from 44% in 2000. However, 34% of clients still do not do this by themselves, but that is done by their employers.
The public perception of the security of saving with banks has also improved. While in 2000 only 20% of respondents said there was no risk to the security of saving in Croatia, this year 44% believe there is no such risk at all, 21% think the risk is small, 21% that it is medium, and only 14% that the risk is great.