The share of online issuances in the microloan market is growing

The share of online issuances in the microloan market is growing

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In the fourth quarter of 2023, the share of offline loans in the total portfolio of MFOs decreased to 40%, while a year earlier it was almost half. Market participants believe that the trend will continue, although it will be slower and more gradual. However, due to the peculiarities of the clientele of MFOs and their accounting policies, it is impossible to talk about the prospect of microfinance going completely online, despite the growth in the technological advancement of the segment.

According to SRO Mir, which Kommersant got acquainted with, at the end of 2023, the loan portfolio of microfinance organizations amounted to 365.7 billion rubles. against 294.5 billion rubles. a year earlier. At the same time, in the last quarter of 2023, the portfolio showed minimal quarterly growth – 5%, as follows from the materials of the SRO.

At the same time, throughout the year the share of online loans in MFO portfolios grew steadily. It reached 60.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023, up from 52.1% a year earlier. The result could have been higher, however, at the end of the year, offline issuances traditionally increase against the backdrop of growing demand for borrowed funds on the eve of the New Year holidays.

According to SRO Mir, “the portfolio of offline loans has reached a plateau; in the future, this segment will decline, but smoothly and gradually.”

The market has already become quite high-tech – a company can conduct high-quality scoring without calling the client for a face-to-face meeting, the SRO explains. “The speed of decision-making is important for the clients themselves. The speed of loan issuance is the main advantage of microfinance organizations for most Russians. This factor turned out to be the most important for both borrowers (28%) and potential clients of MFOs (24%),” they emphasize.

Microfinance companies also confirm the general dynamics. “Increasing the share of online lending is a long-term trend,” notes Andrey Ponomarev, CEO of the online financial platform Webbankir. According to a study by Webbankir, among the factors that borrowers take into account when choosing an MFO, 76.1% are the ability to take out a loan online, 64.8% are the speed of approval of the application. At the same time, according to Mr. Ponomarev, the interest rate is important only for 52.8% of respondents.

The active development of online lending has now become one of the priority goals of the strategies of companies planning to operate in the market for a long time.

“It is possible that by the end of 2024 the bias towards online lending will become even more significant,” believes Creditter CEO Igor Smirnov.

According to Moneyman CEO Alexander Pustovit, “taking into account the general trend towards digitalization of the MFO sector on a quarterly basis, the share of offline loans may approach 20% by 2024.” In addition, online loans are more actively taken out by repeat, most solvent clients. “The trend is related to focusing on this category of borrowers,” explains Mr. Pustovit.

Nevertheless, microfinancers are not going to give up personal work with clients. In particular, although the share of online loans in the issuance of the Summit IFC in 2023 increased by 4 percentage points, to 97%, according to Summit Group Commercial Director Elena Malysheva, there are no plans to completely curtail the physical presence in a number of regions – there “ There are still quite a lot of clients who prefer face-to-face communication and office visits.”

The dynamics of the indicator are influenced not only by the level of digitalization of processes in the company and the degree of users’ transition to online, but also by accounting features, notes Elena Yashina, CEO of the fintech service CarMoney. For example, she clarifies, some car loans issued through partner networks are counted as offline loans, so achieving a 100 percent online take-out rate is unlikely to be possible.

Ksenia Dementieva, Polina Trifonova

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