Russian credit card market grows as pandemic restrictions lifted

The lifting of the pandemic restrictions and the economic recovery triggered the growth of the credit card market.

In 2021, the credit card market in Russia grew significantly. The outstanding debts amounted to a record 1.78 trillion rubles by July 1, Izvestia reports.

Since the beginning of the year, the portfolio has increased by 9.9%, or 161 billion rubles, while it remained practically unchanged during the pandemic year of 2020, according to Tinkoff’s report. In the second quarter, the figure grew by 92 billion rubles, a third more compared to Q1. An increase of 45.5 billion rubles in May became the biggest monthly change this year.

The total share of 30 large banks in the portfolio of credit cards reaches 99.7%, while the market concentration continues.

Izvestia reports that 81% of market growth was driven by the five major credit card issuers (Sberbank, Tinkoff, Alfa-Bank, Sovcombank and VTB).

The major banks confirmed an increase in the credit card portfolio. In the first half of 2021, the number of cards increased 4.5 times compared to the same period in 2020, and the card transaction value increased by 30%, said Stanislav Duzhinsky, an analyst at Home Credit Bank.

The growth in demand for credit cards also was reported by VTB, PSB, MKB and RNKB. Since the beginning of the year, the portfolio has increased by 12% to reach 8.7 billion rubles by now, the RNKB press service reported. In their opinion, the increase resulted from the lifting of pandemic restrictions and the recovery of business. The company expects the portfolio to exceed 9 billion rubles by the end of the year.

Source: Izvestia newspaper

Tweet