Across the debt: Russians complain about imposed credit card insurance
Bank customers complain about the imposed credit card insurance, Izvestia found out. Policies are connected to them automatically at the conclusion of the contract. People face large write-offs of up to 10 thousand rubles every month. Market participants are striving to increase their incomes amid the decline of the credit card segment, which is becoming less profitable due to high deposit rates. In the long term, this threatens to further worsen conditions, experts say. How to refuse the imposed services and what to do if the bank prevents it — in the material of Izvestia.
Customers complain about banks
Russians are actively complaining about the imposed credit card insurance. The largest banks connect policies to customers along with the registration of "plastic". This is indicated by the appeals of users of the " <url> National Rating", who studied Izvestia.
For example, Alfa-Bank customers report on imposed insurance. They complain that the policy was connected to them without warning when applying for a credit card. Some clients found that every month for a year they were charged 1,700 rubles for insurance, which they did not know anything about. People claim that they did not receive any separate information about the additional product when they opened the "plastic".
The situation at VTB is similar — even after the client officially refused insurance when applying for the card, the payment for it was later deducted from his account. Users call these products imposed.
The VTB press service clarified that the client can cancel the insurance and refund the money by contacting the bank or insurance company both personally and remotely.
Some Renaissance Credit customers said that when applying for a card, they were connected to three insurance policies at once for the amount of about 10 thousand rubles per month. Customers claim that they were not informed by the bank that they would also have to pay for life insurance or a job loss policy. In addition, one customer reported that his card was blocked after he refused insurance.
Gazprombank, according to customers, can charge money for the so-called card protection, even if the customer refused this option in advance. Some users said that after receiving a salary card, they were also given a credit card, automatically connecting insurance to it, which was not displayed in any way in their personal account and which no one had warned them about.
A Sberbank user also reported that insurance was automatically connected to his credit card — its cost was 199 rubles per month. However, it was possible to cancel it only with a personal visit to the office.
An MTS-Bank customer complained about the inconspicuous connection of the policy on an already issued credit card — without a separate notification or a clear indication in the documents. The user discovered it only after the first debits and could not immediately understand what exactly the money was withdrawn for.
Izvestia sent a request to these banks and other major market participants.
The Central Bank also fixes the problem of imposed insurance, but, according to the regulator, such cases are not widespread. The Bank of Russia sees violations by individual market players and conducts individual work with them. The issues have already been resolved in a number of cases, the regulator's press service told Izvestia.
How banks impose insurance
Life and health insurance policies, as well as job loss protection, are most often sold with credit cards, said Gleb Yakovlev, vice President of the All-Russian Union of Insurers (VSS). In addition, banks offer fraud coverage and purchase insurance: if the goods purchased with the card were damaged, stolen or lost, the customer can get a refund. They often issue comprehensive policies that combine all the listed risks in one product.
— The credit card segment is an area where the execution of an insurance contract is less in line with the interests of the client, – said economist Andrey Barkhota.
Banks use hidden credit card insurance to increase their own commission income, the expert explained. At the same time, a wide variety of arguments can be used such as "without insurance, you will not get the limit you need" or "without a policy, we will be forced to raise your interest rate."
Due to the high key rate (the Central Bank kept it at a record level of 21% for six months), credit cards are becoming less profitable for banks, Andrei Barkhota said. If a person fits into the grace period, he does not pay the financial organization at all for the use of borrowed funds. They, in turn, are issued at the expense of deposits, the rates on which now reach 15%. This forces market players to adapt to new conditions through a variety of tricks, targeted deterioration of conditions and opaque information, the expert explained.
At the same time, banks openly declare that they have become tougher towards customers who use credit cards, only while the interest-free period is underway. This was reported by Stanislav Tyves, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Uralsib. Some of them may block spending transactions and lower the limits on which the maximum amount of debt depends. That is, the golden age of "plastic" with favorable grace periods and ever-increasing limits, which have been actively promoted in the past few years, is already in the past.
"In the first half of 2025, the issuance of new credit cards by banks fell by half, dropping to 1.07 million units," Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, confirmed.
When selling insurance to credit cards, the problem lies both in the imposition of services and in the inattention of consumers themselves, said Alla Khrapunova, deputy head of the Popular Front for Borrowers' Rights project. The cards are issued quickly — in a couple of clicks, and additional services are activated just as imperceptibly.
It is enough to randomly check the box or confirm the action on the screen, and the insurance has already been issued. Although the bank is required by law to send a separate notification to the client about such services, many people read it superficially or skip it altogether, losing the chance to cancel insurance on time, the expert emphasized.
How to protect yourself from imposed insurance
Consumer rights are actually quite well protected — there is a "cooling-off period" of 30 days, during which you can cancel insurance and refund the money. In case of disputes, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman or the Bank of Russia for help.
Since last year, the rules for issuing credit products have been tightened to combat the imposition of additional services, the Central Bank said. Now banks are prohibited from automatically enabling paid products without the explicit consent of the customer and using other intrusive schemes.
The Central Bank is also introducing new ways to quickly learn about violations related to the imposition of paid services. For example, this year a special online service has been launched on the Bank of Russia's website, through which consumers can immediately report possible violations of their rights. This helps the regulator to respond more quickly to unfair practices.
At the same time, according to complaint statistics, cases of imposition of paid services are becoming less frequent — the problem is gradually being resolved, the press service of the Bank of Russia clarified.
Insurance when applying for a credit card should be voluntary, not an imposed condition, the BCC concluded. It is important for clients to give a choice: to issue a card with or without different security options. Banks are required to explain the terms of insurance clearly and clearly, without overloading with details, as well as provide easy access to complete documents before signing.
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