Ozon Bank (a subsidiary of the Ozon marketplace) has launched a pilot program to offer auto loans. The project is currently available to a select group of customers, the bank told Interfax.
In the first phase, customers can apply for a loan when purchasing new passenger cars on Ozon. Loans are available for terms ranging from 1 to 8 years, with a maximum amount of 5 million rubles and a down payment of at least 20%. Early repayment is possible without penalties or fees, and comprehensive auto insurance (CASCO) and mandatory third-party liability insurance (OSAGO) are not required at the outset. More than 3,000 car models are currently available for purchase on credit on Ozon, including brands such as Chery, Changan, Lada, Haval, Geely, and Tenet.
According to data from the United Credit Bureau, the weighted average interest rate on new car loans rose in July for the first time since November 2025, reaching 12% per annum. Brands are gradually scaling back their own subsidy programs due to stable demand and declining inventory, while banks are forced to maintain current terms due to the high cost of funding.
For more details, see the Kommersant article “Automakers Sense the Demand.”
Ozon Bank’s advantage in this model lies not only in the loan origination itself, but also in access to an already acquired customer. On the marketplace, the bank can spend less on acquiring a borrower than traditional lenders: even a simple banking product costs conventional banks several thousand rubles, whereas for marketplace banks, this cost is significantly lower, since the customer is already within the ecosystem. In addition, it is easier for online retailers to promote financial products—advertising them on their own platforms and offering discounts for payments made with their own cards—which makes it harder for traditional banks to compete with them.
For the buyer, financing becomes part of the car-selection process within a single digital ecosystem, but this does not automatically mean the loan becomes cheaper: lower customer acquisition costs do not eliminate the cost of funding. With high benchmark interest rates, it is costly for automakers to subsidize low interest rates on a large scale, so they are reducing the size of their subsidies: outwardly, the interest rate for the customer remains almost unchanged, but the subsidy applies only to certain models.