Know your rights: Loans All-Ukrainian Information Campaign for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Financial Services held by the National Bank of Ukraine was launched.
This campaign will become the continuation of the first similar campaign held by the National Bank in 2021, and will continue in July-October 2022 in all regions of Ukraine.
The key task and goal of the campaign is to protect borrowers' rights and improve consumer knowledge about credit services.
An important direction of the campaign will be to explain to the population the following issues: what to pay attention to when applying for a loan, what credit holidays are, what restructuring is, as well as their terms and procedure for issuance. Also, the National Bank, jointly with its partners, will explain how to check credit history and what to do in case of the violation of the requirements for ethical behavior by a lender or a collector when interacting with a consumer.
Improving knowledge and skills in the field of credit services will help the Ukrainians to better understand their rights as borrowers and take informed financial decisions.
"We are sure that informed consumers of credit services are more protected from financial risks. They have better understanding of financial services, take informed financial decisions, and can manage their money more judiciously. As a result, their financial condition will be improving this will contribute to the increase of the well-being of our country. That is why the issue of consumer awareness in terms of providing credit services is important for the National Bank", commented Mr. Yaroslav Matuzka, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.
He added that during the war, lending has its own particularities. On the one hand, the Banks' risk appetite has decreased, on the other hand, the population's credit demand has decreased. To restore retail lending, which contributes to consumption increase and, respectively, to economy development, it is necessary that consumers of credit services be clearly aware of their rights and obligations to a financial institution and be able to service loans even in case of unforeseen situations.
"Appeals from consumers to the regulator regarding legal relations under Loan Agreements, as well as regarding unethical behavior of individuals during the collection of overdue exposures, constitute the greater share of complaints against banks and non-bank financial institutions. Actually, consumer lending implies risks specifically for the consumer who is often unaware of the full value of the loan and his(her) responsibility under the agreement. That is why we pay particular attention to this direction. The adoption and improvement of existing regulatory acts aimed at protecting consumer rights, as well as close supervision of the activities of credit market participants, make it possible to prevent violations and normalize processes, but there is still a lot of work to be carried out", noted Ms. Olha Lobaiichuk, Head of Office for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Financial Services of the NBU.
According to her words, consumers should always take responsible decisions on the conclusion of a Loan Agreement, and lenders should transparently and qualitatively convey information on the full cost and terms of the service.
PRAVEX BANK supported new information campaign from the National Bank of Ukraine. Such a campaign will be able to contribute to the increase of the level of trust in financial sector and support the development of the country's economy.
“Our bank joined Know Your Rights: Loans Campaign because improving knowledge and skills in the field of financial products and especially credit services will help Ukrainian consumers to better understand their rights as borrowers. As part of an international banking group, we adhere to the principle of providing transparent information to our clients, the public, as well as our employees. We are glad to contribute to the increase of public financial literacy, so we consider that financial literacy of clients is the key to successful development of banking sector and the establishment of long-term partnership relations”, said Mr. Semiion Babaiiev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Head of Retail Division of PRAVEX BANK.
As part of the campaign, the National Bank is launching a special web page (landing) Know Your Rights: Loans with detailed information on credit services.
The campaign will take place with the support of international partners - the International Financial Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Good Governance Fund (the GGF), as well as to the European Union technical assistance project Strengthening Regulation and Supervision of the Non-Bank Financial Market (EU-FINREG).
It should be reminded that in May 2022, with the aim to support defenders of Ukraine, the National Bank sent a letter to the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a proposal to introduce amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Consumer Lending. The National Bank proposed to prohibit lenders and collection agencies from taking measures to recover overdue exposures in respect of defenders of Ukraine. Currently relevant Draft Law No.7414 On Introduction of Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Consumer Lending Regarding the Settlement of Overdue Exposures for the Period of Military State and State of Emergency was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the first reading on July 8 of this year.
For information
General partners:
the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Free Legal Aid System, the Deposit Guarantee Fund, and the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine.
Information partners:
PrivatBank JSC, Oschadbank JSC, JSC Ukreximbank, Raiffeisen Bank JSC, JSB “UKRGASBANK”, JSC Alfa Bank, JSC "FUIB", Ukrsibbank JSC, OTP Bank JSC, Credit Agricole Bank JSC, JSC “Universal Bank”, Taskobank JSC, Bank Credit Dnipro JSC, Acordbank OJSC, JSC Bank Alliance, PJSC ''MTB BANK", JSC “Idea Bank”, “Pravex Bank” JSC, CIB JSC, Bank Sich JSC, JSCB LVIV, JSC "CB "GLOBUS", Industrialbank JSC, JSC "JSCB "CONCORD", Klyrynhovyi Dim Bank JSC, "Bank for Investment and Savings" JSC, Radabank JSC, JSC Ibox Bank, Crystal Bank JSC, JSC Bank Forward, JSC "Bank "Grant", "Ukrconstinvestbank" JSC, JSC Моtor-Bаnk, JSC "Agroprosperis Bank", JSC "First Investment Bank", JSC "Asvio Bank", JSC "Вank "Ukrainian Capital", JSC Metabank, JSC "Cominvestbank", Policombank JSC, JSC European Industrial Bank, JSC Bank Trust Capital, BТА Bank JSC, the All-Ukrainian Association of Financial Companies, and the Ukrainian Bureau of Credit Histories.
To print a page 
