Russians took out a record number of microloans to prepare their children for school ahead of the new school year. In July-August, 4.6% of all payday loans were issued for educational purposes.

This is reported by The Moscow Times, citing research by the online financial platform WebBankir.

For comparison: in the same months of 2024, the figure was 3.3%, and a year earlier – 2.6% .

At the same time, according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the full cost of a microloan without collateral for an amount of up to 30 thousand rubles and a term of one month is 288% per annum .

The study also showed that clients of microfinance organizations began preparing for the new school year earlier. In 2023, the main peak of disbursements fell at the end of summer: on average, 57% more loans were taken out for educational purposes each day in August than in July.

In 2024, this difference narrowed significantly: August issuances were only 10% higher than July issuances.

In 2025, the ratio changed to the diametrically opposite: on average, in July, loans for education were 65% more active than in August.

The service’s analysts explain this dynamics by the increase in costs for preparing children for school . At the same time, the shift in demand to an earlier period is associated with people’s desire to save, as school supplies become more expensive by the end of August. 

According to Superjob’s calculations, since 2019, the cost of sending a child to school in Russia has increased by one and a half to two times, and the sharpest jump occurred in 2021-2023 . 

It was previously reported that the number of Russians who contacted banks to apply for mortgage holidays increased by 30% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year .

It was previously reported that in May, Russians’ overdue debt on loans increased by 63.5 billion rubles and for the first time exceeded 1.51 trillion rubles ($19.35 billion) as of June 1. Since the beginning of the year, overdue debt has increased by almost 20% and now accounts for 4.4% of the portfolio.

At the end of January this year, it became known that tightening lending conditions in banks is forcing Russians to take out more “payday loans” at 292% annual interest.

Previously, it was reported that more and more people in Russia are unable to service the debts they have accumulated .

Author:  Halyna Yalivets Джерело: https://censor.net/n3570492

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