MOSCOW, Aug 26 The number of payday loans this summer has more than doubled compared to the same period last year, with the highest growth rates among August showed the summer months, Andrey Petkov, General Director of the IFC «Honest Word», said.
«The number of PDL loans issued (short-term loans — ed.) in the summer of 2023 showed an increase of more than 2 times (+ 102%) compared to the same period in 2022. In June 2023, the Russians issued almost 2.8 times more (+177 %) of short-term loans than in June last year,» he said.
In July, the number of issuances increased by 36.9% compared to July 2022. «In August, the number of loan agreements concluded showed the maximum result for the entire summer period of 2023, the figure increased by 2.8 times (+ 182%) compared to August last year,» Petkov added. At the same time, the average amount of a short-term loan for three months of this summer decreased by 11.5% and amounted to 10,433 rubles, but in the summer of last year this value reached 11,783 rubles, he noted.
According to Petkov, the number of installment loans — medium-term loans that are issued for larger amounts for several months — also increased in the summer of 2023 compared to last year, increasing almost 2 times (+ 99%). As with payday loans, the maximum increase was shown in August — 2.2 times. The average amount of such loans this summer decreased by 19% and amounted to 19,769 rubles against 24,392 rubles in the summer of 2022, Petkov said.
According to him, the goals of short-term and medium-term loans indicated by clients have not changed much over the year. This year, borrowers most often borrowed money for treatment (15.7%). They borrowed 10.4% for current expenses, 10.3% for a gift, and 6.4% for car repairs. At the same time, 12.2% of borrowers did not indicate the specific purpose of the loan.
«Last summer, customers also indicated «treatment» (14.6%), «other» (12.4%), «current expenses» (10.4%) and «gift» (10.3% But «car repair» (6.7%) was less in demand, instead, «home repair» (7.3%) became the fifth most popular loan purpose,» Petkov said.