Classic banks offer lower rates, but Russians are increasingly choosing installments right in the marketplace basket. Marina Babenko, an expert at NCFU, explains why the convenience and "seamless" nature of the purchase outweigh the net benefit.

Until recently, it seemed that classic banks were out of competition for consumer money: they had clear products, transparent rates, and reputations. But today, more and more often, a customer, standing in a virtual "store", chooses not a bank loan, but an installment plan directly on the marketplace. And it often does this even under less favorable conditions.

What makes people choose a financial product not based on the rate, but on the "Buy in installments" button? According to Marina Babenko, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor of Finance and Credit at the Institute of Economics and Management of the North Caucasus Federal University, the answer lies not in the mathematics of interest, but in psychology and convenience.

– The factors determining this preference include: the convenience of making installments immediately at the time of purchase, the psychological perception of such products as installments rather than loans, as well as the perceived benefits of the terms. Here, the choice is determined not so much by the interest rate as by minimizing cognitive and time costs at the time of making a decision," Marina Babenko believes.

The key factor, the NCFU expert notes, is the seamless design. The user is in the application, the product has already been selected, and the "Buy in installments" button eliminates the need to contact a separate bank, fill out questionnaires and wait for approval. The decision is made within a few seconds, which drastically reduces time and cognitive costs. This effect corresponds to the concept of "one window" and explains why even less favorable conditions can be accepted.

– In addition, it is worth paying attention to the fact that marketplaces consistently avoid the term "loan", using the words "installment plan", "payment in installments", "Split". This forms the consumer's idea of the service rather than debt nature of the obligation. The absence of an explicit interest rate for the buyer (when it is included in the price of the product or paid by the seller) enhances the effect of "zero overpayment". Thus, the psychological barrier characteristic of traditional lending is removed," explains Marina Babenko.

In addition, for short periods of up to six months, installments can actually be interest–free for the buyer. Additional incentives are discounts when paying in installments and cashback points, which closes consumption within the ecosystem. Even if the real benefit is comparable to a classic loan, it is perceived as more obvious and understandable.

The marketplace has something that the bank often lacks: data on user behavior. The history of purchases, refunds, frequency of visits, and the average receipt – all this allows you to more accurately assess the risks. Therefore, the limits are approved even for those categories of customers that a traditional bank could refuse, says the NCFU expert.

– At the same time, the frequency of interaction with the marketplace application is many times higher than with the banking application. The customer goes there for goods, not for finances, but it is this regularity that forms the habit: "I buy here, and I pay in installments here," Marina Babenko notes.

Thus, the choice of marketplace banking products is explained by a number of reasons: convenience of registration at the time of purchase, psychological redefinition of credit as an installment plan, perceived benefits and deep integration into the digital ecosystem. The crucial role is played not by betting, but by minimizing barriers and cognitive efforts.