In January 2024, Russians’ loan demand did not change, and in February it decreased by 5 percent compared to January. This is stated in a study on the financial market “Vyberu.ru” (available from socialbites.ca).
In October 2023, demand fell only 3% compared to the previous month, while there was even a small jump in November (+9%), and by December demand was back to October levels.
“The Central Bank’s obligation to indicate the full cost of the loan in advertisements affected not only banks, but also financial markets, whose storefronts were also considered advertising platforms. There is no widespread practice of implementing the new norms of the law yet, but we already indicate the PSC for each loan offer on the website,” commented Yaroslav Bajurak, general director of Vyberu.ru.
He admitted there were a lot of concerns; The full cost of the loan may be significantly higher and differ by four to five times from the terms stated in the advertisement. The expert assumed that although the PSC is the maximum interest rate, not the average loan rate, this figure will deter borrowers.
“But so far we have not seen a significant decrease in demand. A 5% drop is more of an error than a serious reason to sound the alarm. So far it seems that potential borrowers still accept the value of this indicator and understand that the advertising rate may differ from what will be approved after assessing creditworthiness,” Bajurak concluded.
The market analyzed how consumers reacted to the appearance of a new legally required condition (the full cost of the loan) in loan advertising. Vyberu.ru examined what the demand for loans has been like since the inception of the law; This law requires that not only advertised rates on loans be stated, but also the full cost of the loan. On October 23, 2023, the obligation to indicate this parameter in advertising came into force, and on January 21, 2024 on banks’ own websites, which can significantly reduce the attractiveness of the product in the eyes of borrowers.
Previously “socialbites.ca” saidWhat should Russians do if they are denied a loan?