OREANDA-NEWS. On 29 July 2009 was announced, that leading consumer finance bank to issue USD 200 million in new loans this year.

Partnership with mobile phone retailer Svyaznoi will facilitate credit issuance at 1,600+ stores nationwide.

Moscow, July 10, 2009 – Renaissance Credit, the consumer finance business of Renaissance Group, announces that it recommenced lending to Russian individual borrowers yesterday, July 9, 2009. Renaissance Credit plans to issue USD 200 million in new consumer credits through the end of 2009.

The bank also announces a partnership with Svyaznoi, a leading retailer of mobile phones and other communication technology, that will allow individuals to apply for consumer credits at 1,636 Svyaznoi stores in 408 cities across Russia by the end of 2009.

“Since we issued our first consumer credit in 2004, we have had the opportunity to collect information on the behavior of more than 3.5 million customers, including during a period of severe economic dislocation in the last six months. As we re-launch lending, we will use this information to acquire the very highest-quality assets,” said Alexei Levchenko, CEO of Renaissance Credit.

The majority of new lending will come via credit cards. As a first step in the restart of lending, yesterday Renaissance Credit removed limits on credit cards for 34,000 trusted clients.

At the beginning of June 2009 Renaissance Credit for the first time began taking retail deposits that allow clients to deposit rubles at annual interest rates of 11.5% to 17.0%, depending on the size and term of the deposits. Deposits are guaranteed up to 700,000 rubles by the Russian government through the Deposit Insurance Agency.