The story
The bank was founded in 1992 under the name Innovative Bank Technopolis. In 2002, it was acquired by Home Credit Group and renamed as Home Credit and Finance Bank. On July 16 of the same year, the first loan under the Home Credit brand was issued in Russia.
In 2006, the bank launched a mortgage lending program. In 2007, the bank became a leader in the credit card market in Russia and was one of the first in the market to hold the 0-0-24 promotion. Home Credit began to move from a monoline bank model to a universal retail bank. A car loan program was launched and deposits from individuals began to be attracted and debit cards began to be issued.
During the 2008 financial crisis, Home Credit continued to be profitable and focused on cash loans and point-of-sale loans, curtailing mortgages and car loans.
In 2017, the bank rebranded and updated its logo and corporate identity. Home Credit began to focus on a younger audience that preferred online shopping. In the summer of 2017, Home Credit Bank launched the first Buy now, pay later platform which brought together goods on installment from partner stores. In 2017, the bank also issued an installment card with the ability to pay not only in the bank's partner network, but also in any store of the client's choice. HCFB in 2017, was the first in Russia to launch the business idea of interest-free instalments, which since 2007 were launched in large retail chains in the format of 0–0–24, 0–0–10. By 2019, Home Credit Russia had a market share to 22% within Point of Sale (POS) loans.
In 2018, the bank was the first to issue a loan with completely remote customer identification through a Russian biometric identification system called Unite Biometric System. In 2020, HCFB was the first to implement the purchasing of goods in instalments directly on the social network VKontakte.
In November 2023, the bank was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), together with other Russian banks, under E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022 Czech parent company PPF agreed to sell HCFB to a group of local investors after sanctions from the US in response to the sanctions.
From Wikipedia’s article on Home Credit & Finance Bank, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5
