POS covid syndrome
On the eve of the New Year holidays, according to a long-term tradition, the popularity of consumer unsecured loans issued in stores is steadily growing. During a pandemic, the culture of buying goods on credit at various marketplaces is taking root and developing at a smooth pace among citizens.
This fall, experts recorded a slight decrease in the sales of POS loans due to the temporary closure of retail outlets in Moscow and a number of other regions. “The closure of offline stores has not yet led to the expected flow of customers to the online channel. Probably, most of them are waiting for sales associated with the upcoming “Black Friday”, – said the head of the retail lending cluster of MTS Bank Ivan Barsov.
But the closer the New Year’s holidays are, the more consumer activity in retail will grow, and, as a result, the demand for POS loans will grow. Stanislav Duzhinsky, an analyst at Home Credit Bank, told MK that now about 70-80% of these loans fall on interest-free installments. Many citizens take out POS loans and interest-free installments for the arrangement of their homes and summer cottages – the purchase of consumer electronics, goods for repairs, furniture, kitchens, the installation of new windows. “The demand in the tourism segment is growing slowly but steadily. In the “communications” segment, the demand has stabilized, which may be due to the fact that this year more people work outside of their homes. Most likely, these trends will continue in the foreseeable future, ”the analyst noted.
Increasingly, Russians prefer to shop with an online loan, without visiting a store or bank. You can make a deal without a bank card, just a passport. Over the past three years, the share of online channels in total POS loan sales has grown from 6% in 2019 to 17% in 2021. The main drivers of the web channel’s growth are the growth of the average check (compared to last year, it grew by 10% and amounted to 47 thousand rubles) and the active development of new e-commerce segments, in particular, online loans for education, clothing, construction of suburban at home. Experts expect a rapid growth in POS lending in the e-commerce segment.
Banks are more and more boldly mastering new niches: there are more and more POS loans on the market for education, buying clothes and shoes, building a country house. The first targeted loans for the purchase of prefabricated houses appeared a year ago and quickly gained popularity during the pandemic. Despite the increased rates compared to mortgages, they have their advantages – a POS loan for buying a house does not take much time and does not require collateral.
Another curious trend is the changing preferences of borrowers. “The population has a clear demand for larger and more expensive purchases, for example, in the segment of auto and motor vehicles,” said Andranik Zakharyan, senior vice president for development of sales channels and customer service at Renaissance Credit Bank. According to him, the share of the “fur” segment is being radically reduced: today it is not fashionable to buy a fur coat from natural fur on credit, but there is a demand for distance education.
“This year and next, in addition to the already traditional categories (electronics, household appliances, furniture, building materials), the focus will shift to such segments as clothing and footwear, sports goods, medicine and education. An additional impetus is the development of POS lending in Internet hypermarkets and marketplaces. It is these segments that will become the main drivers of online issuance of commodity loans in the next 2-3 years, ”says Andrey Pavlov, Vice President, Director for Development of the Partner Network of Post Bank.
Of course, potential borrowers are concerned about the question: where will the rates go? According to the press service of Russian Standard Bank, following the latest increase in the key rate at a meeting of the Bank of Russia, banks ‘lending rates also adjusted upward: if the key rate rises again, banks’ rates will be expected to adjust again after it. If the Bank of Russia keeps the rate at the same level, the current deposit rates will remain until the end of 2021.
“So far, we do not observe global changes in rates and products on the POS market, but the situation depends on the further policy of the Central Bank in terms of limiting the full cost of consumer loans,” Andranik Zakharyan concluded. In November and December, he expects a peak in demand for POS loans associated with the traditional New Year sales.
Newspaper headline:
POS covid syndrome
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