The Central Bank of the Russian Federation tightens the rules for assessing borrowers from 2026

The Central Bank of Russia has announced new requirements for income verification that will come into effect on April 1st, 2026. The regulator is tightening its approach to calculating borrowers’ debt burdens in an effort to make risk assessment more transparent and objective.

The primary change pertains to sources of income. Henceforth, banks will consider only officially verified income. For self-employed individuals and sole proprietors, this means that documentation will be accepted solely based on tax reports and statements from the income and expense ledger.

These innovations will significantly complicate matters for those receiving unofficial income. Transfers from relatives and friends to bank cards, as well as the traditional “under-the-table” salary, will no longer influence the bank’s decision on loan issuance, as such funds cannot be verified.

Another important update concerns credit history management. If a bank is unable to promptly obtain a client’s credit history data, the financial institution will be required to assume the borrower’s debt burden at 100%. This will automatically result in loan denial.

Furthermore, in cases where the bank conducts a simplified income verification process, the maximum approved loan amount will be automatically reduced by 10%. Thus, the new regulations introduced by the Central Bank aim to cleanse the lending market of high-risk borrowers with unconfirmed incomes while simultaneously reducing loan accessibility for a substantial portion of citizens.