Credit card users in Russia use more than a third of their approved limit, the Scoring Bureau said, adding that residents of the country are more actively using credit cards for everyday needs, and transfers from deposits and accounts have become less popular. RBC writes about this.
Author:
https://rb.ru/author/ntihonov/
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At the end of August 2024, Russians began to use more of their available credit card limits. The credit card utilization rate (the proportion of the card limit used) increased by almost 2% to 33.9%. This indicator and the magnitude of the increase are the highest since the beginning of 2022.
According to the Scoring Bureau, Russians have almost continuously increased the share of the limit used on credit cards over the past year, and the average bill in this segment fell from October 2023 to January 2024, then recovered and updated the maximum in July – 113.1 thousand rubles.
As of the end of August, according to Scoring Bureau documents, banks approved more than 2 million new credit cards for Russians worth almost 230 billion rubles. Compared to the previous month, the share of new cards issued decreased by 3.7% in quantitative terms and by 4.7% in monetary terms. The annual decline is even more noticeable. The number of credit cards issued decreased by 20.9%, and the total approved limit decreased by 11.6%.
Experts point to one non-obvious factor affecting credit card usage: high rates on deposits and savings accounts. They note that due to high consumer activity, borrowers tend to choose credit card limits and spend them on household needs.
“At the same time, some borrowers expect to repay the debt during the grace period, which is beneficial in conditions of high interest rates on short-term deposits and savings accounts,” said Yegor Lopatin, head of the financial institutions rating group at the NKR agency.
The total debt of Russians on credit cards at the end of July 2024 reached a record level of 4.8 trillion rubles. The total debt of Russians increased by 42% compared to last year’s figures.
Author:
Nikolai Tikhonov
Source: RB
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