The majority of contracts for so-called “quick online loans” are concluded at night to place a bet in an online casino, the regulator said.
The National Bank proposes that the law limit the rates on microcredits of financial companies. Currently, they average 1,500% per year, according to the regulator’s website on Monday, May 1.
It is noted that financial companies involved in microcredit deliberately choose a business model for providing their services to vulnerable segments of the population, who are often unaware of the consequences of their actions. In essence, they offer an “instant solution” to financial problems for low-income citizens, individuals without a permanent income, students, etc.
“The main sales channel for such consumer loans are remote channels, that is, online lending in minutes, available 24/7. This only exacerbates the problem. At the same time, because the creditworthiness of borrowers is hardly assessed, the rate on such loans, on average, reaches 1500% per annum,” the report said.
According to the NBU, most of the contracts for the so-called “quick online loans” are concluded at night to place a bet in an online casino, the press service stated.
The NBU proposes to amend the law About consumer lending the following changes:
- set limits on interest rates. This is an established practice of regulators in the EU, UK and US. The maximum amount of the real daily interest rate, that is, the total amount of a consumer loan, expressed as a percentage per day of loan use from the total amount of the loan provided, is not must exceed the amount at the rate of 0.8 % per day. Today, this amount for microcredit is, on average, 2.5%;
- reduce excessive debt burden every consumer. To do this, it is proposed to give the NBU the right to establish minimum requirements for the process of checking the creditworthiness of the borrower. Since individual financial companies do not have such requirements today, the assessment of the borrower’s creditworthiness is almost never carried out. At the same time, the lender himself deliberately chooses a business model in which an honest borrower pays excessive interest not only for himself, but also for those who do not fulfill their obligations;
- impose additional penalties for the violation of the established requirements, because the rules that are not responsible for their violation are usually inactive.
As the head of the NBU, Andriy Pyshny, noted, since the National Bank has become the regulator of financial companies that provide consumer loans to the population, two questions are often raised: why these loans are so expensive, and the behavior of lenders is very uncivilized?
According to him, the issue of moral behavior during the settlement of overdue debts has been resolved: the NBU continues to monitor the behavior of creditors and collectors.
“But loans at more than 1,500% per year is an extremely unhealthy practice. It recognizes the consumer loan service with a “debt yoke” and emphasizes the incompatibility of Ukrainian legislation with the best international practice, including EU countries, which our community strives to join. Such a difference needs to be eliminated – and preferably as soon as possible. And we will do it,” added Lush.
The head of the NBU also mentioned one of the appeals received by the contact center of the NBU through the online form on the website. According to him, there are thousands of such appeals.
Earlier it became known that in Ukraine the volume of mortgage lending decreased by a quarter. Such services are provided by four banks that provide loans under state programs Affordable mortgage And єOselya.
Source: korrespondent
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