A microfinance organization is a company that specializes in working with money. The company provides the needy with small amounts of debt for a short time. Such loans are not similar to consumer loans offered by state or private banks, since you do not need to collect a package of documentation. So, in order to receive money from a microfinance organization in Russia, you do not need to present a certificate confirming income or information about seniority. Most of these organizations require only a passport, on the basis of which they lend money. However, not for nothing - the interest on loans is significantly higher than when applying for a regular consumer loan.
Features of work
A microfinance organization is a company that provides money on credit without guarantors. Usually it takes no more than a quarter of an hour to make a decision and transfer the amount, and many promise to give money to the client in only five minutes if the proposal receives approval. As a rule, the client can choose one of the options for receiving funds:
- transfer to a card;
- electronic payment systems;
- courier delivery of money;
- personal receipt at the checkout.
The situation with the provision of services is regulated by Federal Law 151 “On Microfinance Organizations”.
Without leaving home
The main advantage of companies of this type is the ability to get money on credit, literally without leaving the walls of your apartment. A microfinance organization is such a unique system of work when a client receives at his disposal as much money as he needs, having only access to the Internet.
Any adult citizen of Russia who has a residence permit and has not previously been convicted of fraud can apply for a loan through the Internet. However, do not rush and take a loan in the first company that came to hand. There are a lot of options, different companies offer different options in terms of profitability. Some of them may even ruin an inattentive, not very responsible and punctual client. Therefore, you need to analyze all available offers in order to find the most suitable among them. Microfinance organizations are an area in which fierce competition reigns.
Wise choice
The easiest option is to study, compare the offers of the largest organizations in our country offering microcredit. Attention is paid to the following parameters:
- interest rate;
- features of the arrangement;
- legality of the enterprise.
To check the latter, you need to refer to the state register of microfinance organizations. If the company does not appear in it, it is 100% fraud.
After analyzing the information, you can select one or more of the most profitable companies, where and send the completed application form. It is important to enter only reliable information, since the security service always checks the accuracy of the information. In this case, the client indicates what time frame and how much he expects. Numerous LLCs (microfinance organizations mainly work in this form of entrepreneurship) have their own sites where there is a standard questionnaire available for filling out. Filling it out is quite simple, and the decision on the application is usually taken in just half an hour.
Mistakes of the past: hopeless or are there any options?
When a client is interested in a microloan, he first examines the register of microfinance organizations, looking for an interested company there, and only if it is available in this list sends a request for cooperation. Banks use a similar scheme, checking each potential borrower for a bad credit history. Large financial companies, including state ones, are especially sensitive to this. If mistakes were made in the past, especially serious debts, it is highly likely that the program will be rejected, even if the client is ready to convince managers of their diligence and honesty this time. Borrower data is requested from the Credit Bureau.
Microfinance organizations, the list of which is maintained centrally, is a list of companies that do not work with such a database. That is, even with negative lines in the credit history, it is possible to get a small amount. I must say that most of the clients of microfinance organizations are just those people who cannot get money in debt from a regular bank.
And who else?
Saves microfinance organization to the salary of not only those who have overdue loans. Such firms are willing to give money even to those who officially have no job or other source of regular income. But in an ordinary bank, the unemployed do not have to rely on anything - these are the rules.
I must say, in our country in recent years, more and more such companies. But the townsfolk to this day do not always clearly imagine why these firms survive and make a profit. And the specifics of microcredit for many are a mystery behind seven seals. Few people know that the Federal Law "On Microfinance Organizations" has been issued that regulates this market. Hence the stereotypes that the work of such firms is not controlled at all, and in general all this is just fraud.
Historical background
In our country, for the first time microfinance organizations (the Central Bank registers all such companies) were opened in the 90s, and since then the sphere has been actively developing. At first, it did not cause much interest among the population, since people were afraid of fraud. But in 2010, finally, a law was introduced that regulated such services, and the expansion of the legal field provoked an increase in the number of customers with creditors.
Features of work
Mostly microloans are issued for a month, which in advertising brochures is formulated as “before salary”. However, money can also be received by those who have no wages — students, pensioners. Risks associated with lending to such a population group are included in the interest rate.
One of the most significant arguments of opponents of microfinance organizations is a very large percentage set by such a company on money issued to customers on credit. After analyzing the current proposals, we can conclude: on average, the rate is about 2% per day, or per year - 730%. True, it must be borne in mind that for a period longer than a month, they simply will not give money. It is assumed that the main goal of such microprograms is to enable customers to live up to their salaries. Basically, amounts up to 25 thousand are issued, and overpayment in terms of real money, even with high interest, becomes an insignificant amount.
Supply and demand: the relationship is clear
Interest in the activities of microfinance companies is growing from year to year, which provokes an increase in the number of such companies in the market. Almost every day, about a dozen firms submit applications for inclusion in the state register. Of course, the competition in this market is fierce, and it is necessary to regularly come up with new techniques, ways to attract customers, so as not to lose the entire base.
The desire to make their companies more accessible and attractive for the masses provoked the transition of many microfinance organizations to virtual space.Some of them provide their services only on the Internet, without physical offices in principle. If the client needs money in cash, he can receive it at an ATM (if the microfinance organization made a transfer to the card) or at the point of issue of the electronic payment system.
Present, future and benefit for man
Many experts agree that microfinance organizations strongly influence the state economy. Well, the fact that they have an impact on the economic activity of individual people is undeniable. However, it is only positive when the company was chosen correctly.
When deciding in favor of MFIs, it is important to study not only the register of all such companies in order to make sure that there is a liking in it. You also need to check the independent ratings of microfinance companies, get acquainted with the reviews of those who used their services. This will make it possible to get a complete picture: are the services provided by the company high-quality? Are the calculations transparent? Does the company comply with laws, primarily the Federal Law on Microfinance Activities and Microfinance Organizations?
About laws and regulations
For almost two decades, the legal framework did not contain standards governing the activities of firms providing money before salaries. Everything changed in 2010, when in the summer, at the very beginning of July, the 151st federal law was passed.
The new legal act not only described the features of microfinance organizations, but also established a procedure for controlling their work by state authorities. The law clearly spells out how, under what conditions, with the observance of which rules of procedure, microloans can be granted. The law also reflects all the obligations and rights of the Central Bank of Russia with regard to microfinance organizations.
Are you the one we consider you to be?
In recent years, the number of companies providing microloans has grown significantly, and some organizations, trying to attract a client, decided to use a rather unexpected strategy - they pose as “doubles” of the more well-known, trusted MFIs. It is not known how many such Dopplers are on the market, but all major firms regularly complain of such fraud. Someone is trying to steal a website, logo, style.
At the same time, the company loses a certain percentage of customers, but for her it is not fatal, but a client who has trusted fraudsters can be left without a penny in his pocket, robbed by scammers. Therefore, anyone who uses the services of MFIs should be able to calculate doubles and beware of interacting with them.
How it works?
How many such stories have been published! At some point, the company’s employees discover an advertisement for the provision of services allegedly submitted on behalf of their organization — and they were not going to submit it. Well, of course, the contact details are completely different. Usually in such situations it quickly becomes clear that fraudsters, by offering a low interest on a loan and focusing on a long term of work, attract customers. Passport data is deceived from interested parties, but after that customers do not receive their money - instead, they face many problems, as fraudsters issue other loans on their passports.
Dopplers are working on the MFI market, making money with a variety of illegal methods. The contract includes the commission, disadvantageous conditions, additional payments, which would never have been requested by an honest company, under which the double is disguised. As a result, the client subscribes to the ruinous conditions. Well, citizens who are convinced that they are cooperating with a well-known company, identifying fraud, bring their anger not on the true culprit, but on the brand under which it disguised itself.
How to protect yourself?
Not so long ago, the Central Bank of Russia and Yandex launched a joint project that allows ordinary people to use the services of MFIs, but to avoid scammers.It is about labeling firms. Any organization registered at the state level and included in the SRO receives a special marker reflected by the search system. That is, the user sees the tag and understands that this is a real microfinance organization that owns a real site.
The marking is clickable, when you click on it, the user goes to the website of the Central Bank, where he sees the company in the list of operating companies that have been registered in the prescribed manner. Such a system has significantly reduced the volume of fraud in the virtual web. But fraudsters, if the state regulator finds them on the Internet, are blocked by a search engine. Even if the company is only suspected of illegal activity, at the request of the official authority, its resource is blocked until the circumstances are clarified.