According to the results of the second quarter of 2024, the Central Bank recorded the expansion of remote lending channels by microfinance organizations (MFIs): the share of loans issued online in the total volume of loans grew from 81% to 84% during the quarter, it follows from reports of the Central Bank.
Online loans are developed mainly by large companies with the necessary technological infrastructure – only every sixth loan is issued in their offices. Moreover, in the segment of medium-term lending, the share of online loans reached 90%, short-term (“payday”) – 96%. The average amount of loans to individuals according to the results of the quarter decreased from 11.1 to 9.6 thousand rubles.
Entrepreneurial microfinancing developed rapidly: the amount of loans issued to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grew by 22% for the quarter (up to 31 billion rubles) in terms of demand from companies participating in marketplaces.
Central Bank adds In order to expand the access of SMEs to microloans, the Bank of Russia is discussing with market participants the possibility of allocating business financing companies to a separate MFI segment. For them, the limit on the maximum size of the loan may be removed and the possibilities for funding may be increased.
Let us remind you that according to the Central Bank, the SME loan portfolio at the end of 2023 amounted to more than 80 billion rubles, the main part of the segment’s portfolio belongs to state MFIs – 87%.
The total loan portfolio of MFIs grew for the quarter to 505 billion rubles (7% quarter-on-quarter and 27% year-on-year). A large part of them was issued in the medium-term segment, the share of short-term loans decreased to 29%.
The profit of the MFI fell to 26 billion rubles for the first half of the year (-8% year-on-year). As noted by the Central Bank, as regulatory restrictions restrain the growth of income from loans, companies continued to increase income from other areas of activity. As a result, the share of MFIs that receive more than 10% of income from other areas of activity reached 42% (40% a quarter earlier, 37% a year earlier).
Regulation
Over the course of the year from July 2023 to June 2024, MFI business models were transformed amid tightening regulatory conditions. First, from July 1, 2023, the maximum amount of the full value of the loan (Expenses that the borrower pays during the lending period; VSK) reduced from 1 to 0.8% per day, and the maximum amount of payments that MFIs can demand from the borrower – from 1.5 to 1.3 of the loan amount (in addition to the initial loan amount).
Second, from the beginning of 2023, strictures were introduced and gradually intensified macroprudential limits (limitation of the share of risky loans in the total amount of expenses): marginal share of loans (without credit limit) to clients with debt load indicators (the ratio of payments on all loans and loans of a person to his monthly income; PDN) above 80% was reduced from 35 to 15%, and for clients with PDN between 50 and 80% – from 30 to 25%2. At the same time, the macroprudential limits for the third and fourth quarters of 2024 became stricter and MFIs could begin to adapt to the new requirements, the Central Bank notes.