| It increases the amount of an unsecured loan to $25 thousand Sberbank and Alfa Bank yesterday alternately spoke about plans for expansion in the retail market, which is attracting more and more new players from both state and private banks. While Gazprombank, Petrocommerce and Rosbank are just beginning to absorb public funds, market leaders are implementing strategic plans to maintain their positions. But if Alfa is relying on high-tech services such as electronic banking and express lending, then Sber is beginning to liberalize its credit policy. Yesterday the bank announced an increase in the level of loans issued without material collateral from 10 thousand to 25 thousand dollars.
The “Retail Financial Services in Russia” conference, during which Sber and Alfa presented retail projects, once again proved that the largest banks are aimed at the least developed segment of the market - lending to citizens. “Physical” borrowers are reliable and increasingly active, and according to estimates by Alfa Bank board member Maciej Lebkowski, who heads the Retail Business block, at the beginning of the year the population’s real demand for consumer loans was met by 5-7%. Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Andrei Kazmin announced yesterday that over the past three years the volume of loans to individuals has increased 12 times. At the same time, citizens are very responsible about credit discipline - according to Sberbank, the share of “bad” loans on average does not exceed 0.5%.
Apparently, in connection with this, the monopolist decided to increase the limits for citizens. According to the head of the strategic planning department of Sberbank, Dmitry Tarasov, from July 1, the maximum loan amount issued without material collateral will be increased from 10 thousand to 25 thousand dollars. According to him, securing collateral greatly complicates the issuance of a loan. “If a person works, when should he go to the registration chambers,” explained Mr. Tarasov. True, the joy from the upcoming relaxations is somewhat overshadowed by the fact that a citizen will have to present to the bank four solvent guarantors, which, in the conditions of total salaries in envelopes, may not be easier than going to notaries and chambers.
It is interesting that Sber pays special attention to the wealthiest clients - holders of large deposits, as well as persons who have transferred their funds to trust management. For them, according to Mr. Kazmin, twenty points of service for VIP clients have already been opened, and by the end of the year their number will increase further.
Sber's main competitor in attracting private deposits, Alfa Bank, continues to develop a new project, Alfa Bank Express. According to Maciej Lebkowski, 13 branches of the same name have already been opened in Moscow, and another 20-25 will be opened by the end of the year. In addition, a new Alfa Bank project will launch in July - an electronic bank, thanks to which the client will be able to manage his account via the Internet.
Not only new banking services were presented at the conference. For the first time in a new capacity, the former head of the MICEX Alexander Zakharov, who last week took the post of deputy chairman of Sberbank for international relations, spoke. However, he is just getting used to his new role. At the press conference, Mr. Zakharov sat modestly among the journalists. His new boss, Andrei Kazmin, especially noted that Mr. Zakharov’s appointment does not indicate Sber’s intention to borrow money in the West, although negotiations on this issue are ongoing with both the EBRD and the International Finance Corporation. However, as Mr. Kazmin stated, it turned out that money is cheaper on the domestic market. Vera SITNINA |
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