Credit Agricole is partner of the campaign for consumer rights protection in credit services led by the NBU

The nationwide communication campaign for consumer rights protection in financial services “Know Your Rights” has been launched in Ukraine, led by the National Bank of Ukraine. Credit Agricole is to participate as the information partner of the campaign.

It will be a follow-up to the first similar campaign held by the National Bank in 2021 and will take place in July-October 2022 in all regions of Ukraine.

Key task and objective of the campaign is to protect the rights of the borrowers and to better educate the consumers on credit services.

An important part of the campaign will be clarification of the following questions to the general population: what to pay attention to when taking out a loan, what credit holidays and restructuring are, what their terms and procedure are. Together with partners, the National Bank will also explain how to check the credit history and what to do in the event the requirements of ethical code of conduct with a consumer are violated by a creditor or collector.

Better knowledge and skills in the field of credit services will help Ukrainians to better understand their rights as borrowers and make informed financial decisions.

“We are confident that the informed consumers of credit services are better protected against the financial risks. They have a better understanding of financial services, make informed financial decisions and can manage money with better consideration. As a result, their financial position will be improving, which, in turn, will bolster the increased well-being of our country. Therefore the issue of consumer education in terms of credit services provision is of essence for the National Bank”, – commented Yaroslav Matuzka, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.

He added that in the war time loan provision has its specifics. On the one hand, the banks’ risk appetite has gone down, on the other hand, the credit demand of the population has declined. In order to recover retail lending which promotes increased consumption, and, in turn, economic growth, consumers of credit services need to be fully aware of their rights and obligations to the financial institutions and be able to maintain their loans even in case of unforeseen situations.

“Consumer appeals to the regulator concerning legal relationship under loan agreements as well as unethical conduct of entities in the process of past due debt collection/recovery constitute a lion’s share of complaints against banks and non-bank financial institutions. In its essence, consumer lending bears heightened risks primarily for the consumer who often does not realise the full cost of the loan and his/her liability under the agreement. That is why we place a special focus on this area. Adoption and advancement of the existing regulatory and legal acts aimed at consumer rights protection as well as close oversight of the activities of lending market participants enables us to prevent violations and normalize the process, even though a fair amount of work is still ahead of us”, – noted Olha Lobaichuk, the Head of the Office for the Protection of Consumer Rights in Financial Services of the NBU.

According to her, consumers must always act responsibly when making a decision to enter into a loan agreement, while the creditors must communicate information on the full cost and terms of a service in a transparent and proper manner.

In the framework of the campaign the National Bank launches the special landing webpage "Know Your Rights: Loans" with detailed information on credit services.

The campaign is supported by international partners: International Finance Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the U.K. Government’s Good Governance Fund, and the EU’s technical assistance project Strengthening the Regulation and Supervision of the Nonbank Financial Market (EU-FINREG).

It is worth reminding that in May 2022 in order to support men and women defending Ukraine, the National Bank sent a proposal to the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to make amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Lending”. The National Bank offered to prohibit lenders and collection companies to take measures to recover past due debt from defenders of Ukraine. At present, the respective Draft Law No. 7414 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Lending” Regarding the Settlement of Overdue Debts for the Period of Martial Law and State of Emergency” was adopted on July 8 of the current year by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the first reading.