In Russia, real credit card rates have exceeded 50%

In Russia, the cost of servicing credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2025 reached a record 50.1% over the past five years. Such data is provided on February 27 by analysts of the Scoring Bureau, which was reviewed by RBC.

It is noted that over the year, the total cost of the loan in this segment jumped by 17.5 percentage points. The previous surge in rates was observed in the spring of 2022, when the UC rose to 34.9% amid a sharp increase in the key rate. In 2023-2024, the indicator stabilized in the range of 30.1–32.6%.

The current growth began last year: in the first quarter, the CPI reached 45.9% and continued to increase, despite the subsequent reduction in the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Oleg Lagutkin, CEO of the Scoring Bureau, explained that the main driver of UCS growth is the rise in the cost of funding banks following the key interest rate. The rates are also influenced by the risk models of lenders and the behavior of borrowers, where the proportion of customers who fully repay debt within the grace period increases, depriving banks of a significant portion of income.

According to preliminary data for February, the growth of real rates on credit cards has stopped. The rising cost of credit cards was accompanied by a shrinking market. According to the United Credit Bureau, by the end of 2025, the issuance of cards decreased by 43% in quantitative and 41% in monetary terms.

On February 24, economist Olga Gogaladze stated that using credit cards with a limit of 30 to 50 thousand rubles is fraught with large debts, despite the imaginary security and the presence of a grace period. She clarified that repayment problems begin when the client does not close the debt during the grace period, but makes only minimal payments, which on average range from 3 to 5% of the debt amount. Thus, with a loan rate of 20-30% per annum, the overpayment begins to grow rapidly and can reach 15-20 thousand.

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