Moscow, Russia — 14 November 2017.
Tinkoff Bank publishes the findings of its research on the Russian credit card market in 3Q 2017. The research was carried out by Tinkoff Bank’s team based on the data of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and takes into account undue debt (demand loans and overdrafts to individuals) only.

As at 1 October 2017, the credit card market volume reached RUB 1,102 bn.

Apart from a minor contraction in February, the credit card market has been steadily expanding throughout 2017, with growth pace accelerating in 3Q 2017. It grew by RUB 8.1 bn in July, added another RUB 23.8 bn in August and expanded by RUB 26.3 bn in September. 3Q 2017 saw the credit card market grow by a total of RUB 58.2 bn as compared to RUB 45.4 bn in 1H 2017.

The three key growth contributors in 3Q 2017 were Sberbank, Tinkoff Bank and Alfa-Bank.

In 3Q 2017, Sberbank’s portfolio increased by RUB 34 bn to RUB 495.3 bn boosting the bank’s share of the credit card market to 44.9%. Over the same period, Tinkoff Bank grew by RUB 9.6 bn to RUB 127.5 bn, with its market share rising to 11.6%. After expanding its portfolio by RUB 7.6 bn to RUB 82.3 bn, Alfa-Bank climbed up to the third line leaving behind VTB 24 with its portfolio of RUB 81.3 bn. This move marked the first change in the composition of Top 3 in the last two years. Alfa-Bank’s market share reached 7.5%.

Other changes in the Top 10 league are as follows: VTB Bank squeezed Citibank out of its tenth place, while Raiffeisenbank with its moderately growing portfolio climbed up to the eighth line outperforming Credit Europe Bank back in August.

Orient Express Bank showed significant growth, with its portfolio increasing by 5.5%, or RUB 2.3 bn, to RUB 43.9 bn.

The consolidated portfolio of VTB Group that includes VTB Bank, VTB 24 and Pochta Bank looks stable: in 9 M, it gained 3.6%, or RUB 3.6 bn, reaching RUB 104.8 bn at the end of 3Q 2017.

Russian Standard Bank managed to slow down its portfolio’s contraction in 3Q 2017, losing just RUB 1.4 bn over the quarter. As at 1 October 2017, its portfolio stood at RUB 46.2 bn.

Expansion of the key players made the market more concentrated despite an overall increase in its volume. In 3Q 2017, the five largest banks boosted their market share to 75.5%, while the number of credit institutions holding a portfolio of over RUB 1 bn reached 33 with their market share hitting 98.7%.

Methodology:

The report was drafted by Tinkoff Bank’s team. For the purposes of this report, the Bank relied on CBR data. Tinkoff Bank’s analysts use amounts in accounts 45502 (loans and other funds provided to resident individuals for a period of up to 30 days), 45508 (demand loans and other funds provided to resident individuals), 45509 (deposit account overdrafts provided to resident individuals), 45707 (demand loans and other funds provided to non-resident individuals), and 45708 (deposit account overdrafts provided to non-resident individuals).

Credit Card Market Research 3Q17