From 20 to 45 percent. How banks profit from lending to Russians
Loans have finally started to get cheaper: after the key rate was lowered, banks are enticing people with new conditions. But is it possible to find truly affordable loans anywhere today?
The Central Bank's decision, announced on June 6, gave hope: the key rate was reduced by 1 percentage point, to 20%, which means that consumer and car loans, mortgages and other loans should become more accessible.
The banks' reaction was not long in coming: at Sberbank, mortgage rates for some clients were reduced by 2-3.5 percentage points from June 10, and consumer credits for everyone became cheaper by 2 percentage points.
Banks announced a reduction in interest rates on loans. Photo: Sergey Savostyanov. TASS
Now people will live as before: they will be able to calmly buy household appliances, cars and apartments. This could be said if we did not look at the current interest rates on loans.
Loans for the population will always be more expensive than the key rate - after all, banks need to earn money somehow. In the current conditions, one could hope for loans at 23% per annum.
The actual overpayment on interest is usually higher than what banks say. Photo: Grigory Kotelnikov. TASS
This is a lot, but in the case of short-term loans it is still bearable. Let's say you need 500 thousand rubles in cash right now for repairs in your apartment or to buy a used car. You plan to return the money to the bank in a year. At a rate of 23% per annum, the monthly payment will be 47,038.16 rubles, and the overpayment will be 64,457.94 rubles. Due to the peculiarities of calculating annuity payments (in equal parts), the real overpayment for the year is 12.9%.
The problem is that banks are not going to limit themselves to a markup of a couple of percent. The market now operates under completely different conditions. In addition to the interest itself, borrowers have to pay various fees and additional services.
As a result, according to the Banki.ru portal, the average total cost of a loan, which includes all payments, as of June 10, 2025, is 54.453%!
On average, consumer loan rates in Russian banks in June 2025 are around 54%. Photo: newizv.ru
The national average is an interesting indicator, but not always informative, since there are many small banks that may have credit programs “for their own,” but scare off street customers with prohibitive rates.
To find out the real rates, NI studied the offers of the largest banks.
Interest rates on loans at Sberbank range from 24 to 44%. Photo: Sberbank
After updating its terms, Sberbank offers consumer loans on general terms at a rate of 24.9% to 44.5%. At the same time, the total cost of the loan can reach 44.8%: including conditions in the agreement with the bank can be very expensive. For a loan of 500 thousand rubles for a period of one year, the monthly payment under the most favorable circumstances will be 47,497.84 rubles, and the overpayment will be 69,974.1 rubles. If the bank considers you an unreliable borrower, then the monthly payment can reach 52,455.03 rubles, and the overpayment will be 129,460.3 rubles.
At VTB Bank, the conditions are even more amazing. For loans from 30 to 100 thousand rubles at current rates effective from May 12, 2025, the rates are 43.9–47%. In other cases, interest rates and the total cost of the loan are within 32.4–38.5%.
There are no hidden payments, but the basic conditions discourage any desire to take out a loan. The monthly payment is from 49,335.72 to 50,857.76 rubles, and the overpayment is from 92,028.71 to 110,293.18 rubles.
The third largest bank in Russia, Gazprombank, has even less attractive terms: 34.4–41.1% per annum. The minimum loan term is 13 months. In this case, the monthly payment can reach 48,301.78 rubles, and the overpayment is 127,923.11 rubles.
First, the bank receives interest, and then the principal. Photo: calcus.ru
At Alfa Bank, you may or may not be lucky. The rates and the total cost of the loan are within 23.99–46.99%. The terms are determined individually. In the best case, the monthly payment will be 47,277.38 rubles, and the overpayment will be 67,328.53 rubles (13.5% of the loan amount), in the worst case — 53,016.23 rubles and 136,194.83 rubles, respectively.
PSB closes the top five largest banks in the country - everything is simple there. If you are not a military pensioner or an employee of the defense industry, then you can only count on standard conditions: 37.9% per annum. That is, the monthly payment will be 50,706.98 rubles, and the overpayment will be 108,483.75 rubles.
Loan overpayments vary greatly even in the largest banks. Photo: newizv.ru
In most cases, it is possible to reduce the interest rate if you have a salary card or are served at a privileged rate in the chosen bank. But the most important thing is your creditworthiness.
The conditions for determining a specific interest rate for you in banks are extremely opaque, but primarily depend on your debt load and the ratio of monthly payments to salary. If loan payments are a small change for you and you can document your income, then you have a chance of getting a loan on more or less adequate terms. Otherwise, you will have to fork out.
Owners of bank salary cards can expect a reduction in interest rates on loans, but it will be insignificant. Photo: 1MI
Formally, banks are fighting the risk of losing money in this way. In practice, such a spread in rates guarantees excess profits. For example, all indicators of Sberbank are growing steadily. In January-May 2025, German Gref's bank has already earned 682.9 billion rubles net, which is 8.7% more than last year's figures. And this is still the financial result of the bank itself, without taking into account its numerous subsidiaries.
The Central Bank and commercial banks are essentially fleecing the people. According to the United Credit Bureau, in May 2025, Russians took out 1.23 million cash loans for 206.8 billion rubles. This is 62% and 69% lower than last year's figures, respectively. Mass lending in the Russian Federation is dead.
Banks care about profits, not availability of credit. Photo: 1MI
In July 2023, when the key rate was 8.5% and the trend towards its growth to prohibitive values was just beginning to emerge, Russians took out cash loans from banks for 665.4 billion rubles. People now take 3.2 times less money from banks than before. And not at all because life is good, otherwise hundreds of thousands of new cars would not be hanging in warehouses.
But the bankers don't care. There are fewer clients, but the profit from each of them has increased.
newizv.ru
