Risks were applied to the cards – Newspaper Kommersant No. 212 (7413) dated 11/16/2022

Credit card issuance has declined for the second month in a row. At the same time, the growth in the share of the segment with a minimum limit, up to 10 thousand rubles, is due to a faster reduction in issuance in other segments. Market participants do not yet have firm confidence in the traditional pre-New Year’s revival. However, if the issuance grows, it will be primarily due to cards with minimal limits, experts say.

The number of issued credit cards has been declining for the second month in a row, follows from data National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH). After a summer rise in the market (in August, 1.36 million new credit cards were issued, the maximum value for 12 months), a decline followed – in October the number of issuance in the segment decreased to 1.11 million.

The drop in issuance affected all retail ranges (up to the limit of 0.5 million rubles).

However, it did not occur evenly, as a result, the share of credit cards with a limit of less than 10 thousand rubles. showed growth – up to 14.9%, which is 1.2 percentage points more than in September. The shares of other segments decreased, most of all – for cards with a limit of 150-500 thousand rubles. (the share decreased to 10.3% in October against 11.1% in September).

The credit card market has been showing a drawdown for several months, including for cards with a limit of up to 10 thousand rubles, recalls Yury Belikov, managing director of the Expert RA agency. It was only in October that there was an unstable recovery in market share for this category of cards. And there is no way to talk about long-term trends yet. Stable growth from March to September was shown only by the share of the segment of credit cards with limits of 10-50 thousand rubles, he notes.

Credit cards are historically considered the most risky type of lending, possible defaults are included in the interest rate, and in case of crisis scenarios, banks most significantly tighten their risk policies in this area, explains NRA bank ratings analyst Natalia Bogomolova. According to her, fearing a decrease in the credit quality of borrowers amid an unstable economic situation, banks do not increase lending limits and try to maintain the volume of card lending to consumers by increasing their number at lower levels of limits.

However, according to NAPCA, overdue debt in the credit card segment is growing, but at a conservative pace, which indicates a balanced approach of creditors to issuance. The amount of overdue debt in the segment is 42–44 billion rubles. Collectors expect its growth to continue, but the pace will depend on the adaptation of the Russian economy to new realities: unemployment dynamics, income levels.

In the current environment, borrowers have become more careful about their obligations: they either refuse to receive loans at all, or try to get the minimum amount or limit they need on the card, market participants note.

Against the backdrop of general uncertainty and a shortening of the planning horizon, citizens do not seek to significantly increase their obligations, explains the situation in the credit card segment, Marketing Director of the NBCH Alexei Volkov. However, there is a possibility that the “high” New Year’s season will somewhat correct this trend, he said.

However, lenders themselves are cautious about the prospects for growth in borrowings in the pre-holiday months (see “Kommersant” dated November 14). And banks do not want to comment on the topic of credit cards. Of those asked by Kommersant, only Rosbank and Promsvyazbank (PSB) answered.

Natalya Zubarenko, head of the credit card center at Rosbank, said that the average limit on credit cards has been at the level of 100,000 rubles for a long time. And the bank does not expect any significant changes in the near future. “The average limit on credit cards has not changed in recent months,” notes Rustem Aminov, head of the card products department at PSB. However, the bank is more optimistic and expects growth in both consumer activity and limits before the New Year holidays.

Polina Trifonova