UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 19, 2019. Private customers applied for more loans than usual with the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) in October. According to the bank’s press service, the amount of newly issued loans also rose by 28.5% in October 2019 against September 2019; the average loan amount increased by 14%.

‘The bank adopted a rather cautious risk policy and managed to get a quality loan book as a result. Our appealing lending terms bring bona fide borrowers, so the new debt ratio regulations the Russian Central Bank adopted recently did not affect our business. Quite on the contrary, we are witnessing an increase in both the number of newly issued loans and in the average loan amount,’ says Head of Consumer Lending Department at the UBRD Lyubov Toropitsina.

According to Toropitsina, the majority (53%) of loans issued in October were consumer ones. Besides, the demand for debt refinancing went up quite noticeably as well: the share of debt refinancing loans rose from 11% in September 2019 to as much as 21% in October 2019.

Now the bank reduced the interest rates on consumer loans considerably this fall. The rates now start from 9.5% a year (loan repayment period: 3, 5, or 7 years; maximum loan amount: RUB 3m). The interest on debt refinancing loans starts from 8.5% a year (loan repayment period: 2 to 7 years; maximum loan amount: RUB 1.5m), and you can apply for as many debt refinancing loans as you like.