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- You're sparing me a ruble: banks have reduced the issuance of cards and credit card limits
You're sparing me a ruble: banks have reduced the issuance of cards and credit card limits
In September, Russian banks issued 1.42 million new credit cards, which is less than in August. And the volume of limits on new cards has decreased by almost 10%. Expensive money forces banks to offer customers smaller amounts and calculate risks more carefully. Analysts are talking about the cooling of the consumer lending market as a whole. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
The limits have tightened
The number of new credit cards issued in September 2026 was 1.42 million units. Compared to the previous month, it decreased by 3.8% (in August 2026 — 1.48 million), the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBKI) reported.
At the same time, according to creditors submitting information to the NBKI, the volume of limits on new credit cards issued decreased by 9.3%: from 164.6 billion rubles in August to 149.2 billion rubles in September.
In other words, banks are now not only issuing cards less frequently, but also offering customers smaller amounts. And the amount of limits is decreasing faster than the number of credit cards issued.
Expensive money
Analysts cite the high cost of funding for banks as one of the key factors affecting the volume of disbursements.
— The cost of funding affects the economy of the card: the bank pays for the funds raised, while the client can use the grace period. Expected losses from non-repayment, recovery costs, and capital requirements are also included in the decision. Therefore, the bank may limit the amount even if it is ready to issue the card. A reduction in the key rate does not mean an immediate reduction in the cost of all attracted financing," explains Andrey Zavertyaev, Head of fintech Support Practice at the ABP Research Center.
As a result, the average amount that the bank is willing to provide to one borrower decreases.
Requirements for borrowers
In addition, banks are guided by the requirements of the Central Bank and are required to comply with the requirements for macroprudential limits (MPL). Therefore, lenders are increasingly picky about borrowers' incomes, their existing obligations and credit history.
Banks are particularly careful to assess the risk of overdue debt. According to the Central Bank, as of September 1, the share of problematic unsecured consumer loans was 13.2%, although it remained virtually unchanged in August.
Thus, it is more difficult for customers with a high debt burden to obtain a large limit: banks are not entitled to approve applications with high limits from customers with an increased credit burden, as well as if the potential borrower finds it difficult to confirm the official income.
— In addition, banks cannot apply the option and raise credit card limits for all their existing customers: not all customers have an acceptable level of debt burden (PD), and when credit card limits are increased, the debt burden for many customers will become even higher and in some cases even prohibitive (i.e. PD is more 50%), — says industry expert Olga Goryukova.
The general trend
In conditions of high interest rates, expensive funding and regulatory restrictions, the volume of issuance of other credit products is also decreasing.
Thus, according to the NBKI, the number of retail loans issued (consumer loans, POS loans, credit cards, car loans and mortgages) in September 2026 amounted to 4.05 million units, a decrease of 1.8% compared to the previous month.
The volume of consumer loans and cash loans issued in September 2026 amounted to 352.0 billion rubles. This is 9.9% less than in August (390.4 billion a month earlier).
And as Alexey Volkov, NBKI's marketing director, points out, this is also primarily due to the regulator's monetary policy of cooling the credit market, including in terms of high interest rates and restrictions on the debt burden index (PD).
"Banks retain a rather weak appetite for risk from the outside, they place high demands on the quality of citizens' credit histories, reducing the risks of delays in the future," he clarifies.
Come to the MFO
In such circumstances, lawyers point to a trend that is gaining momentum in the unsecured lending market: by refusing to grant a loan to a client, a bank may strongly recommend contacting their subsidiary microfinance organization (MFO).
Thus, the bank complies with all regulatory requirements for the proportion of high-risk unsecured loans, but also does not lose its own benefits by sharing the risks.
—In the current economic situation, MFIs have become almost direct competitors for banks, and a good way to defeat a competitor is to enter its market and take away its share of customers," said Evgenia Bodnar, an individual bankruptcy lawyer at Financial and Legal Alliance.
In such a situation, the bank's subsidiary MFO has the opportunity to offer less favorable terms to the client, the lawyer points out. At the same time, a borrower who wanted to take out a loan from this particular bank has a good chance of getting it from an associated MFI — a pre-approved loan is often already "hanging" there.
As Olga Goryukova clarifies, credit cards are now also competing with renewable credit limits (INCL), which are offered to retail customers from the microfinance market.
However, it should be borne in mind that the cost of INCL for citizens is much higher: the marginal cost of a loan for them is more than 200%.
According to analysts, in November-December, there may be a seasonal surge in demand for credit cards and expenses on them on the eve of the New Year holidays. However, there will be no noticeable market growth until the end of the year. The Central Bank has no plans to weaken regulation of the retail lending banking market. You should not expect a noticeable reduction in the key rate soon either: borrowed money will still remain expensive.
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