December 11, 2017, 15:53 / Personal account

The number of credit cards issued to Russians has increased by almost one and a half times

Borrowers switch from consumer loans to cards Emma Terchenko

Banks support demand for credit cards / Evgeniy Razumny / Vedomosti

Over the 10 months of this year, the number of new credit cards issued reached 5 million, which is 45.6% more than was issued during the same period in 2016, according to data from the National Bureau of Credit History (NBKI). The bureau's statistics take into account new cards issued, and not those issued to replace old ones.

Recently, loans have played an increasingly important role in the budgets of Russian families. In the first half of this year, new loans reached 21% of household final consumption expenditure; this is noticeably higher than the crisis level of the last two years (15–18%), although it is still lower than the peak 25–27% in 2013–2014, as follows from the data of the “Monitoring the Economic Situation in Russia” of RANEPA.

“Some borrowers who previously took out regular consumer loans are switching to credit cards, because it is more convenient, and banks give better conditions compared to conventional loans, issuing credit cards with an interest-free period,” Managing Director of the National Rating Agency Pavel Samiev explains the interest of clients. . In 2015-2016 many borrowers did not take out loans in any form at all, but this year they started borrowing again - and they came specifically for credit cards, he notes. “This is understandable: many borrowers already have a credit history after taking out a consumer loan (scoring requirements for a borrower applying for a credit card are higher) or a salary or regular debit card from the bank where they go to get a credit card,” says Samiev.

Russians' debt on credit cards increased by 60 billion rubles over the quarter

Finance / Banking

“We associate this [the increase in the issuance of new credit cards - Vedomosti] both with an increase in consumer activity, as well as with an improvement in solvency and a decrease in the level of delinquency, which allows banks to offer cards to a larger number of clients,” says the executive director of the bank’s credit card business “ Russian Standard" Rostislav Yanykin. In addition, the growth of the credit card market is also associated with the active promotion of credit cards in the POS lending channel, he explains.

Banks support demand for credit cards. “They are increasing the pace of issuing unsecured loans against the background of stabilizing the situation in the economy,” says NBKI General Director Alexander Vikulin (his words are quoted in the bureau’s message). For banks, credit card borrowers are a more controlled client base, including from the point of view of risk management, Samiev is sure.

At the same time, Russians are increasing their credit card debt. By September it amounted to 1.1 trillion rubles, having increased by 58.2 billion rubles since the beginning of July. excluding overdue debt - such data was previously provided by Tinkoff Bank . This is more than in the entire first half of the year, when the portfolio added 45.4 billion rubles. The main increase, according to Tinkoff, was provided by Sberbank : it increased its portfolio of card loans by 34 billion rubles. up to 495.3 billion, and market share - up to 44.9%.