Credit cards and consumer lending are sectors strongly affected by trends in unemployment and consumer confidence. Russia’s Tinkoff Bank, majority owned by entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov, started out as a lean consumer lender in 2006 but has since added further business lines and is working on rolling out ambitious online brokerage plans.
Yet, given its revenue streams, Tinkoff can still be seen as a barometer of trends in the Russian economy – for better or for worse. Despite its diversification plans, the bank still caters for about 2 million customers using its mass-market credit card ‘Tinkoff Platinum’ – across different socio-demographic segments and geographies in Russia.
