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- An interesting story: Russians will be banned from taking out more than one loan from an MFO starting in 2026.
An interesting story: Russians will be banned from taking out more than one loan from an MFO starting in 2026.
Starting next year, Russians will be prohibited from taking out more than one loan in an MFI. Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market, told Izvestia about this. This proposal was initially made by the Central Bank, market participants criticized the initiative, but the authorities supported it anyway. Starting next year, when issuing a loan, a cooling-off period of three days will also be introduced and the maximum overpayment level will be reduced. In order to prevent Russians from switching to "black" creditors, regulation in this area will also be tightened.
What restrictions will be introduced for MFIs starting next year
Starting in 2026, Russians will not be able to take out more than one loan from an MFO. If they already have an outstanding debt, the microfinance institution will have to refuse them a new loan. Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market, informed Izvestia about plans to introduce such restrictions. According to him, starting next year, Russia will also have a cooling-off period of three calendar days when issuing a loan to an MFO. In addition, the authorities will reduce the maximum overpayment level from 130 to 100%.
The Bank of Russia proposed to introduce these measures back in 2024. Currently, according to the law, the overpayment for a loan cannot exceed 130% of the debt amount, the press service of the Central Bank explained to Izvestia. The calculation takes into account the debt itself, interest on it, commissions and all possible penalties and fines. However, this restriction applies to each individual contract. If a citizen has reissued a loan from an MFI to a new one, then the overpayment starts from zero. Many debtors are unaware of these conditions and fall into a debt spiral, the regulator claims.
— As it often happens now: a person takes 10,000 rubles a month from an MFI. It doesn't have time to pay off. And the MFO offers him money to repay the debt plus a new loan, then another and another. And a man in bondage," the regulator noted.
So, if existing loans with already accrued interest are reissued into new ones, interest is charged on them again, and the debt snowballs. As a result, it can be several times higher than the initial 10 thousand rubles. And if a person takes out several loans at the same time, then the situation becomes very deplorable. After the adoption of the law, this will no longer happen, the Bank of Russia said.
Currently, the proposals of the Bank of Russia to limit the issuance of microcredits have been submitted to the State Duma. They will be considered in the autumn session, Aksakov stressed. According to him, the measures have already been discussed with departments and market participants. Despite the criticism of the initiative from the MFIs, the authorities supported it.
Who are the "black" creditors?
If new measures are taken, there will be a risk of a mass transfer of Russians to "black" creditors. To prevent this from happening, the authorities will tighten the regulation of this area, the deputy said. For example, it is important to prohibit advertising of their services.
"Black" lenders are organizations without a license that are ready to lend money to any client, despite the level of his creditworthiness. Most often, they provide funds secured by property, but unlike legal players, they set extremely high interest rates, agree to issue loans without documents, can steal personal data, and resort to illegal debt collection methods.
Such organizations often disguise themselves as a thrift store or pawnshop. Any lender can be checked using the Directory of Financial Organizations on the website of the Bank of Russia. The Central Bank is constantly updating the list of companies with signs of illegal creditors. On August 11 alone, the Idea pawnshop from the Sverdlovsk region and Avangard-Pawnshop LLC from Tatarstan joined the list.
Control over the advertising of "black" creditors will be carried out through legislative prohibitions and technological monitoring, explained Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. First of all, we are talking about assigning responsibility to platforms — social networks, messengers, online bulletin boards and search engines with the obligation to remove ads about illegal services and block accounts posting such materials, he said.
— The authorities will probably use automated systems to search for prohibited content, as well as respond to complaints from citizens and banks. At the same time, special attention will have to be paid to messengers and closed groups, where advertising can be distributed in the form of personal messages or recommendations from participants," said Vladimir Chernov.
Izvestia appealed to the Ministry of Finance to evaluate the initiative.
Why do the authorities limit the number of loans for clients of MFIs
Restrictions on the activities of MFIs are being introduced against the background of growing demand for loans from citizens who are denied loans by banks. Such a flow of clients creates a temptation for abuse, explained independent expert Andrey Barkhota. For example, market participants are able to increase the proposed loan amount and interest (today this figure cannot exceed 0.8% per day, or 292% per year), which can eventually drive a person into debt. The new regulatory measures will ensure that a client who finds himself in a difficult life situation does not exceed his financial limits.
The strength of MFIs is in the instant issuance of loans, but it also acts as the main trigger for impulsive financial decisions, said Dmitry Mikhailov, finance and credit expert, Chief operating Officer of the Cosmovisa fintech company. In this regard, a three-day "freeze" before receiving money is very important.
In some cases, a person applies for a loan in a state of stress, pressure from external circumstances and, possibly, fraudsters, the expert added. According to him, the new restrictions will help to avoid this.
"This is also a fight against telephone fraud, in which personal data is stolen from a citizen and loans are taken from MFIs on his behalf," said Dmitry Mikhailov.
The measures will help the sector become more transparent to the regulator and the public, will contribute to improving people's well-being and make market products an understandable and affordable alternative to banking services, said Olesya Kiselyova, Managing Director of IFC Lime-Loan.
Such a change is long overdue, and it will protect the most economically sensitive segments of citizens, and it will also be understandable for everyone to calculate: both business and customers themselves, added Sergey Vesovshchuk, CEO of Eqvanta Group.
However, there are unnecessary legislative restrictions among the proposals, he pointed out. For example, reducing the full cost of the loan to 100% per annum. This limitation in the case of short-term loans does not allow "white" law-abiding players to recoup the cost of issuing such a product. At the same time, if there are no conditions for a "white" market, then no restrictions will help stop the work of illegal creditors.
There are MFIs that systematically over-credit borrowers and involve citizens in a debt spiral. For individual companies, the share of such operations can reach up to 70% of their portfolio, the Central Bank estimated. The restrictions imposed will not allow them to continue such an aggressive policy. If they do not restructure their business models and adapt to the new conditions, they will have to leave the market.
In turn, Andrey Ponomarev, CEO of the online financial platform Webbankir, noted that the company is wary of the "one loan in one hand" initiative. According to him, if MFOs are forced to refuse even good clients simply on the grounds that they already have one open loan, this may benefit the very "black" creditors. In particular, the company's survey showed that about a quarter of borrowers are ready to turn to illegal immigrants if they are denied access to bona fide organizations, he noted.
Restrictions on the number of loans per customer will create a significant bias and infringe on the rights of consumers themselves, the press service of the SRO MIR reported. Even with current legal restrictions and internal business models, 80% of primary customers fail to score and are rejected.
If the public's access to borrowed funds issued by registered market players is blocked, the issue of creditworthiness will not be resolved. The need will persist and will encourage individuals to look for other sources of financing, the MIR SRO emphasized.
However, according to Vladimir Chernov of Freedom Finance Global, a ban on the simultaneous availability of several microloans will reduce the risk of the refinancing chain, which often causes debt traps.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
