NBKI: new Russian credit card issuance falls to 1.42 million in September

Lenders reporting to Russia's National Bureau of Credit Histories issued 1.42 million new credit cards in September 2026, down 3.8% from August, the bureau said on October 15.

The previous month's issuance totalled 1.48 million cards. Limits on new cards had amounted to 220.7 billion rubles in September 2024.

Moscow recorded the largest September limits at 15.94 billion rubles, followed by Moscow Region at 10.42 billion and St Petersburg at 7.13 billion. Krasnodar Territory followed with 5.88 billion, and Tyumen Region including the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous districts with 4.75 billion.

Among the 30 regions with the largest limits, the steepest monthly declines were in Sverdlovsk Region at 12.6%, Perm Territory at 12% and Udmurtia at 11.3%.

Limits fell 10.5% in Tyumen Region including its autonomous districts, 10.2% in St Petersburg and 9.5% in Moscow.

NBKI marketing director Alexey Volkov attributed weaker issuance to banks' limited appetite for risk. He said lenders maintained demanding standards for applicants' credit histories.