Shadow payment: Overdue credit card debts jump to 110 billion
Credit card delinquencies have increased dramatically — by almost 70% in six months, to 110 billion rubles by the spring of 2025, according to data from the Design Bureau (Izvestia has it). The quality of loan servicing has deteriorated due to high interest rates and inflation. At the same time, banks are trying to make the most of their customers: they worsen loan terms, reduce grace periods and reduce limits. Whether the Central Bank will correct the situation and why the "golden age" of profitable credit cards is behind us is in the Izvestia article.
Credit card delinquencies in 2025
The volume of overdue credit card debt in the first quarter reached 3% of all debts on this product, which is almost 70% more than six months ago, according to data from the United Credit Bureau (OKB). Currently, the amount of delay reaches 110 billion rubles.
Risks accumulated throughout 2024, and at the beginning of this year the situation worsened - the quality of loan servicing in the banking market deteriorated sharply, said Mikhail Aleksin, General Director of OKB.
Russians' solvency is falling, among other things, due to high inflation, which amounted to 8.3% in the first quarter of 2025, Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company, recalled.
This is especially sensitive against the background of the cessation of growth in real incomes of the population (this is the total profit of Russians minus obligations in the form of debts or rent), said Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. The population does not refuse to lend even during a period of high interest rates, and as a result is forced to pay high interest rates, which affects their well-being.
According to OKB, only the average credit card rates are 27%. However, they do not take into account all additional payments that borrowers need to make, for example, for opening and using a card. Taking them into account, the total cost of the loan, according to Izvestia estimates, is much higher — about 50%.
This is an alarming signal for the economy, as growing risks are forcing banks to tighten loan conditions, warned Vladimir Chernov. All this makes lending even less affordable. And it's not just about classic loans — now it's the turn of plastic loans.
Due to the record high key interest rate of 21%, credit cards are becoming less profitable for banks, said economist Andrei Barkhota. If a person fits into the grace period, then he does not pay the financial organization for the use of borrowed funds. This forces market players to adapt to new conditions through a variety of tricks, targeted deterioration of conditions, and opaque information. They are lowering limits, reducing interest-free periods and increasing withdrawal fees, Izvestia wrote earlier.
How to avoid paying interest on a credit card
The Central Bank is facing customer complaints against banks due to the sharp accrual of interest on credit cards, the press service of the regulator told Izvestia. However, based on the results of inspections, it often turns out that information about the terms of the product is provided in the internal documents of organizations that customers are introduced to before signing the contract. That is, legally, market players do not violate the law.
It is not uncommon for people to go into arrears due to a poor understanding of the terms of the contract, agrees Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Finance Global. Proper use of plastic is associated with many nuances, without which it is easy to fall into a "debt pit".
Each credit card has a limit (the maximum loan amount) and a grace period (usually about three months). Only that part of the borrowed amount that is not paid by the end of the grace period is subject to interest. Banks remind customers to make only the minimum payment, which is an amount of 3-10% of the body of the debt, according to reports from users of the <url> national rating (Izvestia has studied them). If you do not pay it, after a while the grace period will end ahead of schedule and interest will be charged on the loan.
The problem is that the minimum payment is not enough to cover the debt completely by the end of the grace period. By this time, the client may have a considerable amount remaining, which will immediately be charged a percentage.
For example, Alfa-Bank customers complain about opaque information — the application primarily displays not the end of the grace period, but the deadline for the next payment. If you follow only this payment schedule, the client is guaranteed to go beyond the grace period and continue to pay interest to the bank. OTP Bank also does not warn about the deadline for its completion, it follows from the complaints.
By the way, interest on the debt incurred at the beginning of the grace period is accrued over its entire term. "If you do not repay the entire debt before the end date, interest is charged on all debt from the first day of the grace period until full repayment," said an Alfa-Bank representative in response to one of the customer reviews.
Some tricks are also possible when setting the grace period. Gazprombank's customers complain that the interest-free period ends earlier than the expected date, according to data from the <url> website. The fact is that sometimes it is calculated not from the moment of the first use of borrowed funds, but from the beginning of the reporting period.
That is, if you make a purchase with a credit card on May 31, then interest will be charged not after 90 days (August 31), but on August 1, because the reporting period in Gazprombank begins on the first day of each month. This practice is legitimate and common among other players, and it misleads users, especially new ones.
Customers also complain about the reduction of grace periods — for example, it has halved on MTS Bank cards. Consumers are warned about this, but it is important not to miss the moment and close the debt on time.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the largest banks, including those mentioned, about the conditions for credit cards.
Will there still be profitable credit cards in the Russian Federation
The Central Bank emphasized that banks, as a rule, remind the client of the upcoming payment within the grace period. This information is easy to find in online banking, and it is clearly stated in the contracts. The central bank does not see a systemic problem in terms of forming a debt repayment schedule, the regulator concluded.
However, it is still appropriate to call the complex credit card payment system translucent, said Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Finance Global.
However, the deterioration of credit card conditions for consumers is generally in the interests of the Bank of Russia, Andrei Barkhota believes. Plastic makes it possible to consume without having funds at the moment, while receiving increased cashback. The massive use of cards is a factor in favor of accelerating demand for goods and services in the Russian Federation, and this clearly does not contribute to the fight against inflation. Whereas the Central Bank's goal is to enable the economy to "catch up" with too high demand until the country's production capacities recover.
It turns out that the Central Bank is interested in reducing the popularity of credit cards — but, of course, should not allow violations of the rights of customers.
At the same time, market participants openly declare that they have become tougher towards customers who use credit cards, only while the interest-free period is underway. This was reported by Stanislav Tyves, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Uralsib. Some of them may block spending operations and lower the limits on which the maximum amount of debt depended. That is, the "golden age" of plastic with favorable grace periods and ever-increasing limits, which have been actively promoted in the past few years, is already in the past.
Market players often resort to aggressive product advertising even now, thereby involving citizens with insufficient financial literacy, Vladimir Chernov noted. However, if the number of complaints increases, the Central Bank may tighten the requirements for informing customers about the terms of loans, Vladimir Chernov is sure. There are already similar examples: for example, the regulator has established requirements for displaying loan terms and is developing similar criteria for advertising deposits.
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