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- Neither give nor take: mortgage borrowers were proposed to be tested for financial literacy
Neither give nor take: mortgage borrowers were proposed to be tested for financial literacy
Alexander Demin, deputy head of the New People faction in the Duma, has sent an appeal to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation asking it to consider the possibility of introducing mandatory testing for borrowers. The Central Bank gave a generally favorable response to the deputy's initiative. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Caution - the mother of wisdom
According to Demin, for financial literacy should be tested as customers who take a loan for the first time, and those who are at risk due to high debt load. The Bank of Russia responded that it is ready to study the proposal together with credit organizations and the Consumer Rights Protection Society. Such testing for understanding financial mechanisms is a typical practice in some countries, the agency said.
"Together with the Ministry of Finance of Russia and other executive authorities, we are working not only to raise the level of knowledge about finance, but also to form a financial culture of our citizens, that is, certain skills and habits: to analyze income and expenses, to assess their credit load, to be responsible for debt service. This year alone, more than 11 million Russians became participants of the Bank of Russia's projects and programs on financial literacy," the Central Bank noted.
In addition, the Central Bank has prepared a draft law providing for a "cooling off period" in the procedure of loan processing. This is the time between the approval of the application and directly receiving a loan. Thus, some borrowers may reconsider the expediency of their decision and change their mind.
In the press service of the Ministry of Finance in response to the request of "Izvestia" responded that events informing citizens on how to act in different life circumstances when solving the housing issue, how to choose the most appropriate financial instruments, learn more about government support measures in the housing sector, are regularly held with the participation of "Dom.RF" and NIFI of the Ministry of Finance of Russia. "One of such events - mortgage marathon - has already become an annual event", - reported in the press service of the Ministry of Finance.
Responses to inquiries to the Central Bank and the Ministry of Economic Development had not been received at the time of publication.
Long-term practice
Interdepartmental active work in the direction of financial education has been carried out in Russia for the second decade. A new stage in the development of financial literacy of the population was the Strategy for Improving Financial Literacy and Forming Financial Culture until 2030, approved at the end of 2023.
Among the theses of the new strategy, Nina Gukasova, the director of the program of the Federal Methodological Center for Improving Financial Literacy of the Population of the Presidential Academy, especially emphasizes interaction with the able-bodied population.
- This category of citizens has access to a wide range of financial services, has formed a request to improve their living conditions, move to another city or region due to a change of place of work and/or study," she points out.
The level of financial literacy of Russians can be judged by the results of regular surveys conducted by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.
- But the formation of financial culture, which is based on values, behavioral attitudes and conscious decision of life tasks, guided by the rules of financial literacy, requires joint actions on the part of the regulator, financial institutions and financial service providers, - says the expert.
Therefore, the initiative to introduce mandatory financial literacy testing for citizens wishing to take out a mortgage loan seems to be a timely and practical tool to draw attention to the formation of the family budget, the peculiarities of financial planning when using mortgage lending. "The very concept of "responsible borrowing" used in the new strategy is directly related to the financial well-being of citizens and their financial security," summarizes Nina Gukasova.
Russia has a huge number of financial literacy programs for the population from school age to retirement age, believes Yulia Afanasyeva, analyst at Finam FG.
- Unfortunately, since 2012 the financing of these programs has been gradually depleting. But the population will not suffer much from this, as more and more commercial institutions are taking over financial education," she says.
Portrait of a borrower
According to the data of the bank "Dom.RF", most often the loan for the purchase of housing in this organization in 2024 were customers aged 30 to 40 years - almost every second borrower. About 25% of customers took a loan at the age of 40-50 years, another 20% of transactions are concluded with customers under 30 years old, from 50 years - 5%. The average age of a borrower is 36 years.
Meanwhile, the proportion of women in 2024 deals has fallen slightly to 42% compared to 45% last year. Over 65% take out a mortgage while married, 25% are single/married and 8% are divorced. Half of borrowers have no children at the time of home purchase, one in four with one child, 20% with two. Those with many children account for less than 5% of loans. Over 90% of borrowers have higher education.
- I would also note that the demand for houses is growing. In 2024, about 80% of mortgagees chose apartments, 20% - individual housing construction (IHB), while in transactions last year apartments and houses took 75% and 15% respectively. Another 10% of loans are aimed at the purchase of apartments and car places, - told "Izvestia" Deputy Chairman of the Board of Bank "Dom.RF" Alexei Kosyakov.
Experts FG "Finam" conditionally divide those who are now taking mortgages into three categories.
- Firstly, a small proportion of the population, which is still eligible for heavily restricted over the past year, preferential programs or fall under special offers from developers. Secondly, people who are only 10-20% short of the purchase price, but still need to urgently solve the housing issue. Third, those who believe that rates will go down in the near future and the cost of real estate will not fall. Some of them expect to quickly close the issue with the mortgage after the sale of other property, - says Julia Afanasyeva.
According to the expert, you can also identify a small group of "homestagers", that is, entrepreneurs who buy secondary - as a rule, in poor condition, - make there modern repairs and resell.
Doubtful effect
Creditworthiness of the population is growing - over 50 million Russians are burdened with at least one loan, and more than half of the borrowers have two or more. Due to the high debt limit, banks are forced by the financial regulator to deny credit to those to whom they would have lent money two years ago.
- Whatever the result of the test, it is unlikely that the exam will affect the borrower's desire to take out a mortgage loan. Circumstances push citizens to take loans, so we should strive to achieve adequacy of real estate prices and the level of interest rates, - says Irina Nosova, senior director of the group of ratings of financial institutions ACRA.
