Banks took 62 trillion rubles for support for contracts

Against the background of tightening regulation, as well as reducing credit activities, credit organizations develop the so -called banking support of contracts (BSK). The instrument was introduced back in 2014, but recently, dozens of banks began to offer it. It applies primarily to budget purchases, but also transactions of large companies that want to be played away from unnecessary losses. Banks earn here both on commission income and percentage on the remains in the accounts.

According to Kommersant, the total amount of contracts concluded using BSK for 2024 is 62 trillion rubles. This amount included purchases for the implementation of national projects (12 trillion rubles), project financing of developers (12 trillion rubles), contract transactions under the Law 44-FZ (9.4 trillion rubles), purchases under 223-ФЗ (9.5 trillion rubles), etc. Compared to 2023, the growth amounted to 26%. “The combined volume of the portfolio of contracts for all banks is currently 60–65 trillion rubles,” the Kommersant source in the banking market estimates.

Bankers note the growth of the volume of such contracts in recent years by 20–25% per year. At the same time, the number of customers annually increases by 20%, and the number of accounts on escort is 30%.

The requirements were introduced by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 963 of September 20, 2014 « On the implementation of banking support of contracts ». The main idea is to tighten control over the spending of budget funds not only by the administrative, but also by the market method with the involvement of commercial banks, without creating an additional load on the budget. The VTB evaluates that « the systematic use of BSC reduces inappropriate expenses by 7-10% of the total investment. » Gazprombank prevented misunderstanding of projects in the period 2020–2024 of more than 400 billion rubles.

Such services are mainly provided by the largest banks (Gazprombank, Sberbank, VTB, PSB, Soskombank, etc.). Back in 2017, Gazprombank entered into an agreement with Gazprom to maintain BSK. Now in the structure of the bank’s portfolio (volume of more than 24 trillion rubles), more than 40% are occupied by customers of the oil and gas industry, about 20% – state and municipal contracts. Sberbank began to actively develop banking support in 2020. Socialist Republic provides BSK services since 2021. Similar services are also provided by banks from the TOP-30 (Novikom, Transcapitalbank, Absolut-Bank, etc.), as well as smaller credit organizations (handicap-bank, Kuban Credit, NBD Bank).

At the same time, according to the Kommersant’s source in the financial market, a strong calculation and cash service, the experience of monitoring the intended use of funds and advanced IT systems are needed to fully provide such services.

“The costs of introducing BSC are calculated in billions of rubles – mainly for the creation of technology, development of software and services for customers,” Gazprombank is evaluated.

As explained in the Sovcombank, the cost of the service varies between 0.15–1.15% of the amount of controlled payments. At the same time, banks have the opportunity to earn on related services. “As a rule, banks either take a commission and accrue interest on the remains in banking accounts, or without a commission, in which case they do not accrue interest on the rest of the client. In the current conditions, the second tariffing scheme is significantly less attractive to customers, ”says Roman Malyuga, head of the“ Digital Finance ”group, indicates the“ Digital Finance ”group. The Novik Bank reported that they mainly carry out banking support « at a free basis, since customers additionally use other paid services. » The Deputy Chairman of the Board of Absolute Bank Pavel Trofimov noted that, by carrying out the BSK, the bank receives a commission income, « making agreed payments within the framework of each contract along the entire cooperation chain », and also « receives interest income from liabilities in separate accounts. »

Based on the conservative assessment of the commission at 1.15%, it is possible to estimate the volume of income last year at more than 700 billion rubles, which is comparable to the net profit of all banks for the first quarter of 2025 (744 billion rubles). However, the Kommersant source in the financial market evaluates that the BSC brings to banks additional commission income at least 2%.

At the same time, such services carry noticeable risks for banks.

First of all, these are operating risks – timeliness of operations, preventing the inappropriate use of funds. In addition, the bank carries legal risks, responsible for compliance with the terms of the BSC agreement, financial risks (sending a payment with a delay entails fines and compensation), regulatory risks (prompt response to changes in legislation). In case of implementing these risks, the client can go to the competitor, bankers warn.

Olga Bazutova