Gosuslugi to notify users immediately when a loan is issued

A system is expected to be introduced in Russia to notify citizens immediately when a loan or microloan is issued in their name. The State Duma has adopted the relevant bill in its third and final reading.

Under the new procedure, information about a loan will be sent via the Gosuslugi (State Services) portal as a push notification or SMS. This will allow citizens to quickly identify if a loan has been taken out in their name without their consent.

The notification must arrive within 45 minutes

The bill sets specific deadlines for transmitting information after a loan is issued.

A bank or microfinance organization will be required to send information about the loan to the credit history bureau within 30 minutes of signing the loan agreement.

Upon receiving the data, the credit history bureau must notify the borrower via the Gosuslugi portal within 15 minutes.

Thus, if the entire process works as intended, a citizen can be informed about a loan issued in their name within a maximum of 45 minutes.

How will the message be sent?

The notification about the loan agreement will be sent according to the user's settings on the Gosuslugi portal.

The message can be received as:

• a push notification via the mobile app;

• an SMS to the phone number.

It is expected to contain key information about the loan issued. This allows the citizen to quickly verify whether they signed the agreement themselves or if someone else acted on their behalf.

If an unauthorized loan is detected, it can be cancelled

If a citizen discovers that a loan was issued without their consent, they will be able to use a "cooling-off period."

During this period, the use of loan funds will be restricted, and the individual can take steps to cancel the suspicious agreement.

The cooling-off period, depending on the loan amount, will last:

• at least four hours;

• up to a maximum of 48 hours.

This mechanism is aimed at preventing fraudsters from quickly transferring loan funds to other accounts.

“Another strong barrier for fraudsters”

One of the initiators, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, said the new system would reduce cases of secret loans taken out in citizens' names.

“This measure will be another strong barrier to prevent fraudsters from taking out loans in other people's names,” he said.

Aksakov emphasized that the notification system will work in conjunction with other tools against financial fraud.

These include self-exclusion from loans, the cooling-off period, the “second hand” service, and a special alert button on the Gosuslugi portal.

When will the law come into force?

The bill provides for the new procedure to take effect on October 1, 2027.

By this time, rapid information exchange between banks, microfinance organizations, credit history bureaus, and the Gosuslugi portal must be established.

The main goal of the law is to show the citizen the financial action taken in their name as quickly as possible. If the system works as planned, victims will learn about the loan as soon as the contract is signed, rather than after a debt collection request.