The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has developed a number of measures to use the financial market to improve people’s well-being, Mikhail Mamuta, head of the Central Bank’s Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Financial Services Accessibility, said in an interview with Izvestia.
“We approached this systematically: we didn’t just propose initiatives, but first studied the needs and wishes of people in several focus groups. It turned out a whole range of measures,” he said.
First, it is a law that will make the mechanism of credit holidays for consumer loans permanent. According to Mikhail Mamuta, this is important in conditions when life circumstances can change unpredictably for people, and there are more and more “long” debts on the market.
“In our opinion, such holidays should be provided for up to six months under all consumer loan agreements, regardless of the term and amount, if a person’s income has fallen – by analogy with mortgage holidays,” said the head of the Central Bank Consumer Protection Service.
He added that a person will be able to use this option once under all contracts that are currently in effect. According to him, the regulator is now actively involved in the preparation of the relevant bill.
“This is one of our priorities in the list of measures to use the opportunities of the financial market to improve the well-being of people. At the end of last year, we discussed these initiatives with legislators and we expect that the bill has a good chance of being adopted this year,” he said.
Secondly, a special deposit, which – in addition to any regular deposits – people with low incomes will be able to open. It is assumed that the interest on this deposit will be guaranteed above the level of the key rate, and funds can be replenished and withdrawn at any time, except for a certain minimum balance.
“Another very important initiative is a current social account with the attachment of a MIR card with interest on the balance linked to the key rate. This is also a good way to support people in need. On a current account, as a rule, no interest is charged today or it is minimal, but here a person will receive a guaranteed additional income calculated on the balance of the account during the year,” Mikhail Mamuta said.
Also, he said, it is assumed that transfers, payments, cash withdrawals, any payment from this card in the amount of up to 15 thousand rubles per month should be exempt from commissions.
“In our understanding, it doesn’t matter what a person pays for – for housing and communal services, for goods, for services, transfers money to another individual – the norm should work the same way. Another important initiative is a ban on charging commissions when a person transfers money to himself from one bank to another bank in the amount of up to 1.4 million rubles. Now this commission is sometimes significant, ”said the representative of the Central Bank.
Read the details in an exclusive interview with Izvestia:
“A person will have the right to take a vacation on each loan”
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
