Lenders do not trust agents

At the end of 2022, the volume of the agency collection market amounted to 734 billion rubles, having fallen by 16%. The number of cases referred by creditors to collectors for work has also decreased. The reduction was the result of a slowdown in retail lending in 2022. Some participants in the agency collection market are counting on positive dynamics in 2023, even expecting growth of 10-20%. But so far, trends in the lending market can hardly confirm these hopes.

According to the National Association of Professional Collection Agencies (SRO NAPCA), in 2022 the volume of the agency collection market (overdue debt remains on the balance sheet of the creditor) decreased by 16%, to 734 billion rubles. At the end of the year, the number of cases transferred by creditors to collectors also showed a decrease – by almost 3% at the end of 2022, to 20.4 million.

Traditionally, almost three-quarters of the agency collection market is accounted for by banks, another 25% is occupied by debts of microfinance organizations (MFIs) and other creditors. Last year, bankers transferred 559 billion rubles to collectors for agency debt collection, which is 14% less than in 2021, microfinancers – 132 billion rubles. (-14% YoY). The average check in the segment amounted to 36.7 thousand rubles, which is 12% less than a year earlier.

The trend was the result of a reduction in the credit limit, which was taken by all financial organizations last year, explains the president of SRO NAPCA Elman Mehdiyev.

“And, most likely, in the current year, banks and MFIs will continue to adhere to the conservative model, so the average check will remain at the same level,” he believes.

“An additional reduction in the agency collection market could have been caused by restructuring by creditors themselves, as well as the use of credit holidays, which led to a decrease in the volume of loans transferred for collection,” adds Mikhail Polukhin, director of the ACRA Financial Institutions Ratings Group.

The expert emphasizes that the agency collection market directly depends on the dynamics of the unsecured lending market. And all additional shocks and tightening of regulatory pressure on lenders or other factors hindering the growth of lending activity will also put pressure on agency collection, the expert concludes.

Market participants have been observing a decrease in agency collection for several years now.

The fall is due to the difficult economic and foreign policy situation, says the general director of M.B.A. Finance” Fedor Vakhata. “In addition, debts with a long period of delay are often transferred for collection, which are difficult or almost impossible to collect,” he describes the situation on the market. “.

Banks have become overly reinsured, shifting the focus towards internal recovery, confirms KEF Senior Vice President Viktor Semenduev. Similar problems in the cession market (see “Kommersant” dated February 17).

Mr. Semenduev still looks at 2023 with optimism. We can predict a slight growth in the agency business, by 10–20%. But only if positive trends in the economy continue, he emphasizes.

However, as evidenced by the data of the first months of this year, the growth of lending and checks should not be expected. Thus, according to the data of the express monitoring of Frank RG, in January, banks issued loans for 800 billion rubles. For comparison: in December 2022, 1.4 trillion rubles were issued, and in January 2022 – 909.4 billion rubles. In addition to the protracted crisis, the lending market is under pressure from new regulations introduced by the Central Bank — new macroprudential limits that limit the issuance of loans by term and level of debt burden (see “Kommersant” dated February 8). The situation is similar in the microfinance segment (see “Kommersant” dated February 27): Against the background of tightening regulation and falling incomes of the population, companies in the industry are forced to reduce both checks and the number of loans issued.

Polina Trifonova