Today, market participants are moving away from usury and beginning to explore a new promising direction. They are promoting a new service, offering banks not only to lend money but also to act as service providers in regions where they are not in demand. In this situation, everyone benefits: consumers – because they have the right to choose which service to receive, as well as intermediaries and banks – because they receive commissions.
President of the Russian Microfinance Center Mikhail Mamuta notes that a microfinance institution appears in the eyes of the bank as a payment agent providing the population with a full range of banking services (accepting transfers and payments, servicing bank plastic cards) that were previously unavailable to them.
Those wishing to borrow a certain amount of money are somewhat deterred by the need to pay high interest. However, according to experts, rates of a thousand percent (which exist both in Russia and the US) are not as scary as they seem. After all, such cash loan is taken for a short term, and therefore it is quite profitable.
Judge for yourself – by borrowing $100, you will repay $105 in a few days, but you will be spared the need to fill out paperwork. The total volume worldwide is $40 billion, and this amount is no more than 5% of the total amount of microloans.
As for other loans, the average rate is 30% per annum. Limiting the maximum rate will lead to unnecessary consequences, experts note. In this case, a service that is quite in demand will go 'into the shadows'.
According to Yulia Bondareva, a more effective way to reduce the interest rate on loans is transparent rules and competitiveness of banking organizations. And the usury law in force in Russia will rather serve as information for the borrower.
Experts assert that the microfinance market, which has developed for ten years without any legislative framework, needs a breather, a rest from constant introduction of norms. In the future, it will undergo structuring and the elimination of some players who are too weak or unscrupulous. And only after that, believes www.kredituem.com, will the prerequisites for further development become visible.
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