BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 28. The new rules approved by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) enable citizens to apply a voluntary restriction (self-imposition) on taking out consumer loans remotely and increasing their credit limit, Director of the CBA Market Conduct Regulation Department, Tamerlan Aliyev, told Trend in an interview.
He answered questions about the main purpose of the discussed changes, as well as new opportunities for consumers and other issues.
"It's known that with the rapid global development of digitalization processes, a growth in the scale and dynamics of cyber threats is also observed. Unfortunately, in some cases, after gaining access to the client's account, fraudsters aren't satisfied with the funds in the client's accounts and try to formalize a remote loan on his behalf. The main goal of the new changes, which will take effect from October 1, 2026, is to prevent such cases, as well as risks arising from ill-considered financial decisions. In international practice, a self-prohibition mechanism is applied to the issuance of remote loans in a number of countries to prevent such risks.
The main goal of the generally adopted changes is to more reliably protect the interests and safety of consumers during remote lending, more responsibly manage their risks, and create additional preventive protection mechanisms in this area," said Aliyev.
The CBA official also spoke about the new opportunities for consumers of the new changes.
"According to the amendments to the 'Rules on credit risk management in banks' and the 'Rules on credit risk management in non-bank credit institutions', citizens will be able to voluntarily impose a ban on issuing consumer loans or increasing credit limits remotely in their name. Citizens will be able to apply the self-ban to any one or several credit institutions (banks or non-bank credit institutions), as well as to all credit institutions across the country. This, in turn, will contribute to significantly reducing the risks that may arise as a result of illegal use of personal data," said Aliyev.
He emphasized that the new rules apply only to consumer loans concluded remotely, as well as to increasing credit limits on existing consumer loans remotely.
"These rules don't apply to loans issued by a citizen physically applying to a credit institution. That is, citizens who have applied a self-prohibition on consumer loans issued remotely will be able to approach credit institutions and benefit from consumer loans without removing that prohibition," he explained.
Aliyev noted that the self-prohibition mechanism for issuing remote loans can be applied in two ways: "In the first case, citizens will be able to apply a ban only on that organization by applying to any credit institution. In this case, the ban can be removed based on the citizen's physical presence in that credit institution, a written application submitted through an enhanced electronic signature, or enhanced customer authentication.
In the second case, citizens will be able to apply a ban on issuing remote loans in their name in all credit institutions at the same time by placing a request on the electronic platform of the Azerbaijan Credit Bureau (Findoc.az) or its mobile application. This type of self-prohibition can be canceled only on the basis of a citizen's application to the Azerbaijan Credit Bureau through one of the channels specified. It should be noted that in this case, the lifting of the self-prohibition will come into effect after 24 hours," he said.
According to the CBA official, according to the new rules, before issuing a consumer loan remotely or increasing the credit limit, credit institutions must first check whether the client has applied a self-prohibition.
"For this purpose, both the information available in the credit institution's own information systems and the information system of the credit bureau should be used. The Azerbaijan Credit Bureau will play the role of a centralized database in this process, allowing all market participants to take into account the prohibition imposed by the citizen," he pointed out.
Aliyev also spoke about the legal consequences of credit institutions violating the requirements of the legislation and granting a loan remotely to a person who has applied a self-prohibition or increasing the credit limit. He said that the new rules establish a specific protection mechanism for the protection of consumer rights in such cases.
"Thus, in cases of granting a consumer a loan remotely or increasing his credit limit despite the credit agreement and the applied prohibition, the debtor is released from the obligation on the loan should be included. This approach increases the responsibility of credit institutions and stimulates them to strictly follow the established procedures," he mentioned.
According to Aliyev, the self-exclusion mechanism is voluntary.
"Each citizen is free to use this opportunity based on their own needs and risk assessment. However, this tool may be especially useful for individuals who want additional protection from cyber fraud risks, senior citizens, users who use digital services less often, and consumers who want to take additional precautions regarding the security of their personal data.
Overall, the purpose of this mechanism is to provide citizens with additional choice and protection to manage their financial security. In the modern digital financial ecosystem, such tools have become one of the important protection mechanisms in terms of protecting consumer rights," he said.
The CBA official clarified that the waiting period means the period between the loan approval and the credit amount being credited to the customer's account. He stressed that the waiting period applies only to consumer loans approved remotely or with an increased limit.
"The application of the waiting period is primarily an additional security measure aimed at preventing attempts by fraudsters to approve loans remotely on behalf of citizens who don't apply self-imposed restrictions. If the amount of funds issued or increased remotely during the day is up to twice the minimum wage, the funds will be credited to the customer's account after 2 hours, and if the amount exceeds this limit, after 24 hours. During this period, the consumer can carefully review the transaction, immediately contact the credit institution in case of detecting any suspicious circumstances, and prevent possible risks.
Besides, the waiting period also aims to prevent impulsive (immediate) financial decisions and purchases, as well as borrowing behaviors made under emotional influence. Experience shows that in some cases, consumers make decisions about taking out a loan due to the attractiveness of marketing campaigns, immediate needs, or psychological factors. The waiting period gives the citizen the opportunity to think about whether the loan is really necessary, consider alternative options, and protect himself from excessive borrowing. Thus, this period creates conditions for a more responsible lending process, reducing the risks arising from both fraud and insufficiently thought-out financial decisions of the consumer himself," he concluded.
