This paper provides novel microlevel evidence from Germany that cross-border bank flows are an important means for households to access credit.
The paper examines how lending to households was impacted by the influx of cross-border bank funding following the European Central Bank’s implementation of nonconventional monetary policy in 2014 and 2015. Regional banks that were highly exposed to fluctuations in foreign capital inflows increased consumer lending to riskier, lower-income households by 50% more than other banks.