Shared offer: how regulation has changed the installment market

Since April 1, the regulation of installment purchases has changed: large purchases over 50,000 rubles are now included in the credit history and accounted for in almost the same way as regular loans, and a maximum term limit is introduced for purchases in installments. Against the background of the entry into force of the new law, which drew a watershed between BNPL and classic installments, the market has become more transparent, and leading players have begun to introduce new solutions. For example, T-Bank has launched a BNPL broker: a user of the Dolami service can receive offers from several installment payment operators at once, which increases the likelihood of approval for the buyer. For stores, this means a decrease in the number of "abandoned" baskets and an increase in sales. Experts believe that combining several services in one interface has become a new round of market development and will soon become the standard. Izvestia investigated how this could affect consumer demand and the prices of goods.

How payment in installments changed

The popularity of installment payment services (BNPL - Buy now, pay later) has been growing in Russia for a long time. This model allows you to receive the product immediately, and pay its cost in stages over several months – and, as a rule, without interest. At the same time, unlike classical consumer lending, this segment has been significantly less regulated for a long time, explained Igor Dodonov, an analyst at Finam Financial Group.

Now the BNPL market is under the control of the Bank of Russia. New rules have been in effect for installment payment services since April 1. The maximum installment period was limited to six months, and from 2028 it will be reduced to four. In addition, a ban on hidden fees for the buyer was introduced, and purchases over 50 thousand rubles are now reflected in the borrower's credit history.

The demand for BNPL services remains high, although the consumption structure has changed, said Maria Ermilova, Associate Professor of Finance for Sustainable Development at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. Now Russians are more likely to make small purchases for a short period of time, while expensive goods are purchased less often through installments, the expert believes.

Stricter regulation has made the market more transparent: conditions have become clearer, and hidden fees are gradually disappearing, Maria Ermilova added. At the same time, increased control by the Central Bank increased customer confidence, but increased the costs of operators for reporting and compliance.

The editors asked the Central Bank and the largest BNPL services to tell them how their work has changed. Wildberries & Russ reported that the service works "In Parts" in accordance with the requirements of the regulator: the purchase limit does not exceed 50 thousand rubles, there are no commissions for customers, and the demand for installments continues to grow. The company stressed that the service was initially based on the principles of transparency, so they did not notice any major changes after the tightening of regulation. Yandex Pay said that through the Split service, users can still pay for everyday purchases in installments, and programs with an increased limit and a payout period of up to 24 months are available for more expensive goods.

What solutions does the business offer?

Against the background of the changing rules, market participants began to look for new solutions, which gives a new impetus to development. As Maria Ermilova noted, the services are gradually moving towards a model of combining offers from different operators in one interface. This allows the client to get more installment payment options and increases the chances of approval.

T-Bank was the first to launch such a model. The company told Izvestia that now, when paying through the service in Installments, users can receive offers from several BNPL providers at once - without re—entering data and switching between applications. At the first stage, the "Let's share" service from OTP Bank is connected to the platform.

The pilot is already operating in more than 4,000 stores, both online and offline. The solution is planned to be scaled in the future, T-Bank said.

The implementation of the BNPL brokerage model makes it possible to increase the likelihood of approval of the application and simplify the purchase process, explained Maxim Zaitsev, CEO of the Dolami service. According to him, in the first week after the launch, the additional number of approvals increased by 16%, and the volume of approvals increased by 30% due to the connection of external providers.

For the service's partners, this scheme means an increase in conversions and a decrease in the number of abandoned baskets: customers are more likely to complete an order if they receive several payment options in installments at once, Maxim Zaitsev added.

Combining services in one interface creates a more sustainable model for the development of the BNPL market, says Alexander Ragulin, Director of Consumer Credit Development at OTP Bank. According to him, this approach increases the availability of the product to customers and simplifies the purchase path.

Zaitsev also believes that the future lies in combining different mechanics within a single interface. According to him, there is already a solution inside Shares that aggregates all available ways to split a payment: classic BNPL, POS-lending, POS- and BNPL-broker.

What awaits the installment market in the future

After the introduction of regulation, the BNPL market will become more mature and transparent, and unscrupulous players will leave, says Maria Ermilova from the Russian University of Economics. In her opinion, large technological services capable of meeting the new requirements of the Central Bank will remain on the market.

The expert believes that the brokerage model and integration with credit histories will gradually become the industry standard. In the long term, BNPL services will no longer be perceived as a marketing tool to stimulate sales, but as a full-fledged financial product.

Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, agrees that combining several operators in one interface will become a new market trend. In her opinion, this model will help small players stay in the market and diversify services, and will give customers the opportunity to get installment plan approval from different services in one application or on one site.

In addition, the aggregation of services will simplify the analysis of consumer behavior and allow companies to make more targeted offers, the expert believes. In fact, the platforms of installment payment operators can gradually turn into analogues of financial marketplaces, where the client can compare the products of different companies. In some cases, the services of partners of such platforms may be even cheaper than when contacting the operator directly.

At the same time, the BNPL market, according to Natalia Milchakova's forecast, will continue to grow actively, although not at a rate of hundreds of percent per year. In the next two to three years, this segment may add 25-30% annually.