Post Bank was fined 500 thousand rubles. for violation of advertising laws

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) fined Pochta Bank 500 thousand rubles. for violation of advertising laws. As reported press service FAS, in the bank’s advertising, the conditions for obtaining a reduced interest rate on the loan were indicated in small print.

In July, the FAS received a complaint about advertising of the Pochta Bank “Guaranteed Rate” option. The advertising text, which was distributed on a roller display in Moscow, indicated in large font “attractive information for the consumer about the interest rate on the loan from 4%.”

At the same time, information about the conditions of the reduced interest rate, including the loan amount, term and requirements for concluding an insurance contract, was placed in an “explanatory note in a difficult-to-read font for a short time,” which “misled consumers.”

Based on the results of the inspection, the FAS recognized the advertising as improper and issued an order to the bank to stop violating advertising legislation.

As Kommersant reported, in June the largest Russian banks more often began offering clients loans at 3–4% per annum, while real rates on the same loans can exceed 30%. Head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina back in March indicatedthat such practices will become more frequent in 2023. In this regard, the Central Bank and the FAS recommended that banks indicate the conditions for changing rates in the same font as the “most attractive interest rates.”

Read more in the Kommersant article. “The stakes have diverged from reality”.

Lusine Balasyan