In 2024, the combined assets of banks and marketplaces will witness a fourfold increase.
In 2024, the Russian banking sector underwent a significant transformation, as per Elvira Nabullina, the Chair of the Central Bank of Russia, during her keynote speech at the Data Fusion conference.
Marketplaces were acquiring banks, mostly those with assets worth 0.2% of the total banking system, according to Nabullina. This trend indicated marketplaces' dissatisfaction with the partnerships offered by traditional banks. Banks and marketplaces, she said, were still uncertain if they were partners or competitors within this system.
E-commerce platforms were encroaching into services beyond finance, aiming to earn more and become ecosystems, Nabullina pointed out. Clients appreciated the convenience of being able to not only purchase goods in one click but also secure loans when needed. This "mutual penetration," she predicted, would continue.
The regulator's role was to create an environment that fostered the development of the platform economy, without stifling innovators, but by providing favorable conditions. Key principles for regulating marketplace activities, as stated by Nabullina, included: balance, service neutrality, financial risk monitoring and audited reporting, operational reliability, data protection, and transition to domestic software.
Clear and fair rules were essential for the smooth functioning of marketplaces, Nabullina stressed, to protect the rights of suppliers and clients.
Analysts at Frank RG observed that marketplaces integrating banks into their apps were outperforming traditional banks, with a growth rate of 60% in 2023. In 2024, Ozon Bank, Yandex Bank, and Wildberries Bank issued 57 million electronic wallets and cards – almost double the previous year. This figure was predicted to grow to 143 million cards in 2025.
Leaders from JSC "Digital Dynamics" suggested that conventional banks were gradually disappearing from the financial industry landscape, and the sector was evolving on a fundamentally new model. Already, marketplaces, telecom operators, and IT giants had developed their banking systems.
Russia's banking system transformation would entail a shift from traditional structures to digital and neobanks. This transition might prove painful for the Russian financial system. Factors influencing this restructuring include the decline of Western payment networks, digital infrastructure overhaul, leveraging AI, and structural economic shifts. Balancing inflation control with technological modernization would be critical to the success of this dual-track model, where state-backed institutions manage strategic economic priorities and digital and neobank platforms cater to consumer and SME demand.
- By 2023, analysts at Frank RG noticed that marketplaces integrating banks into their apps were outperforming traditional banks, showing a growth rate of 60%.
- In 2024, Ozon Bank, Yandex Bank, and Wildberries Bank issued 57 million electronic wallets and cards, nearly double the previous year's amount, further indicating the digital transformation in the Russian banking sector.
- Elvira Nabullina, the Chair of the Central Bank of Russia, highlighted in her keynote speech at the Data Fusion conference that marketplaces were aiming to become ecosystems, encroaching into services beyond finance, including finance, to earn more.
- As the Russian banking sector undergoes a significant transformation in 2024, it is expected to experience a shift from traditional structures to digital and neobanks, signifying a fundamental evolution in the financial industry landscape.
