Starting March 1, individuals can now use the Public Services Portal to voluntarily impose a self-ban on entering into loan or microloan agreements. This measure aims to protect against loan fraud.
To activate this mechanism, an individual must record a special ban in their credit history. The self-ban can be categorized by creditor type, such as banks or microfinance organizations, and by the method of applying for loans, either offline and online or only online.
If someone wishes to obtain a loan despite having imposed a self-ban, they can cancel it at any time. This requires submitting an application through the Public Services Portal and signing it with an enhanced digital signature. The Goskey application provides this signature free of charge as an additional protection against fraudsters. Once the relevant information is updated in the individual's credit history, the ban will be lifted after one day. This cooling-off period allows people to make more considered decisions about taking out loans or microloans.
Before issuing consumer loans, banks and microfinance organizations are required to check if there is a self-ban recorded in the borrower's credit history. If a self-ban exists, creditors must refuse to issue a loan. Should a creditor issue a loan despite an existing ban, they cannot demand repayment from the borrower.
By September 1, 2025, individuals will also have the option to set up a self-ban at multifunctional centers. These centers are expected to prepare their systems and staff for processing self-ban applications without interruptions by that date.
For further details on how this self-ban mechanism works, individuals are advised to visit the Bank of Russia website.