In April, Russians began to actively use the overdraft function on debit cards, the Equifax credit bureau reported. The total amount of debt increased by 3.4 times in annual terms, to almost 640 billion rubles.
Russian banks have increased the issue of debit cards with overdraft by 2.8 times in annual terms, up to 18.4 thousand. The overdraft limit has grown by a quarter, to 34.8 thousand rubles, RIA Novosti reports.
Equifax believes that overdraft is a product leaving the market. It was replaced by credit cards. According to the company, it will eventually leave the market. “The growth in the volume of the overdraft portfolio in the past month was caused, rather, by the technical issues of accounting for debt, which, in practice, within a few months will decline to normal values,” the bureau said in a statement.
The Central Bank previously reported on the growth of the debt burden of Russians to a record level in the first quarter. It increased to 11.9%. As the Bank of Russia clarifies, unsecured consumer loans made a key contribution to the increase in the debt burden.
How the Central Bank is struggling with unsecured consumer loans, – in the material of Kommersant, “Consumer loans were given a delay.”
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