Rates diverged from reality – Kommersant

The largest banks began to offer customers cash loans formally at 3-4% per annum. However, real rates on the same loans may exceed 30%. In the conditions of competition for creditworthy borrowers, experts note and admit to the Central Bank, banks may resort to not the most conscientious marketing practices, misleading customers.

On June 1, the second bank in the Russian Federation, VTB, announced the launch of cash loans at a rate of 3.9% per annum. Similar or even lower rates are already offered by Sberbank (4%), GPB (4%), Alfa-Bank (4%) and others. Bankers are reluctant to discuss the difference between advertising and the real cost of credit. Only Gazprombank clearly clarified that the maximum rate without insurance will be 31.4% per annum. VTB stressed that the rates “are determined individually.” Based on the conditions, it can be assumed that the maximum rate will be 14% (detailed parameters and the full cost will have to be searched deep on the site, in an excel file). In Sberbank, a rate of 4% is available in the first month, and from the second month it increases to 12.5%.

At the same time, the average weighted market rates for cash loans, according to the data of the Central Bank and the Bank of Russia, at the end of the first quarter, even taking into account secured loans, were many times higher. Thus, according to the Central Bank data for March, the weighted average rate on loans issued in rubles ranged from 12 to almost 30% per annum, depending on the loan term and product type. According to the data of the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH) for the first quarter, rates on non-purpose cash loans ranged from 13 to 32% per annum, depending on the terms and amount.

In the foreseeable future, the cost of loans, according to experts, will only grow. “Most likely, there will be an increase in the frequency of delinquency, and accordingly, the risk premium will increase objectively. In addition, if the key rate is slightly increased, which is quite likely, the cost of funding will also increase,” explains Yury Belikov, Managing Director for Validation at the Expert RA agency.

Rates of 3-4% are nothing more than a marketing ploy, the interlocutors of Kommersant agree. “Lending at such a rate does not make economic sense,” says Mikhail Polukhin, director of the ACRA Financial Institutions Ratings Group. The marketing struggle for a good quality client is growing, adds Alexei Volkov, NBKI Marketing Director. “Banks focus their customers’ attention on the amount of the monthly payment, without showing the real cost of the loan in advertising,” says Konstantin Borodulin, director of banking ratings at the National Rating Agency.

The Central Bank emphasized that the regulator, together with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), has already drawn the attention of banks to the fact that price conditions (rates on loans and deposits) should be obvious to the client. “We recommended that the conditions for changing rates and their possible values ​​\u200b\u200bare indicated on the websites of banks in the same font as the most attractive interest on a deposit or loan, and not to display some parameters less noticeably than others,” the Central Bank explains. “The consumer should immediately see the range the full cost of the loan and the amount of the minimum guaranteed rate on the deposit.

However, some lenders “try not to draw the attention of customers to the fact that a low rate on a loan or loan does not last long and only when buying insurance or additional services,” the Central Bank admits. According to the regulator, such practices “not only mislead consumers, but also lead to violations in the field of competition.”

According to Art. 28 of the Federal Law “On Advertising” “Advertising financial services and financial activities”, if an advertisement for services related to the provision of a loan / loan contains at least one condition that affects its cost, it must contain all other conditions that determine the full cost of the loan, explains Ilya Zharsky, managing partner of the Veta expert group: “This means that if the announcements contain any information about the attractiveness of the advertised product, then the disclosure of full lending conditions for credit institutions is mandatory, but they can be indicated in small print or in the form of links to other information sources.”

Polina Trifonova