BLACK LIST OF RIGHT BANKS: If you are employed in these places, you cannot apply for a loan

While betting house and casino employees have experienced loan and credit card denials due to the work they do, the Serbian Banking Association says that this is not the rule and that each request is specifically considered. The National Bank of Serbia says there are no regulations forcing bankers to reject bookmakers, but that banks have the absolute right to decide whether to grant a loan or not.

As Ilija R. from Belgrade, who has been working in a gambling shop for years, told us, recently had a credit card turned down at the bank where he has an account. That is, he did not even send an official request, because they told him at the counter not to issue this type of banking services to employees of companies that deal with gambling, gambling, casinos, companies that deal with weapons and high-risk companies. environmental.

– I was shocked, because my income is not in the millions, but it is regular and I have never been an irregular payer – our interlocutor told us. – I am considering changing banks, but found that I will probably be rejected at other banks as well, without getting an official response or explanation as to why they are rejecting me.

Bankers from several financial institutions have unofficially confirmed the history of the occupation blacklists, because any company that has a risky business, that is, one that may go bankrupt or close in the short term, is one of the high risk. Thus, as the employees told us, they can stay without salary and the bank without its fees. As is often said, a potentially unsure customer to settle obligations belongs to the bank’s risk group.

On the other hand, according to Vladimir Vasić, general secretary of the Association of Banks of Serbia, there are a priori no undesirable occupations or undesirable enterprises for banks.

– A large number of people who take up these jobs and work in betting houses have received loans, both for housing and for others – says Vasić. – There is no blacklist. It is possible that the client was specifically rejected for some reason that the bank considers risky, specifically, but not because he is employed in a bookmaker. If that happens, you can certainly change banks. The company can also operate at a loss because it is insecure, so the client was rejected.

That there is no rule that prevents banks from granting loans to bookmakers, they confirmed to us in the NBS.

– From the aspect of the current regulations governing the operations of banks in Serbia, there is absolutely no rule according to which banks would limit themselves to granting loans to a certain category of clients, such as employees in bookmakers or any other another employer – they say in the Central Bank. – Therefore, the regulations do not establish additional conditions that citizens, betting house employees should meet in order for the bank to approve a loan.

INDEPENDENT DECISION

The BANKS are obliged to establish and regulate the proper credit process through their internal acts, and to regulate the criteria and principles for approving loans and other placements to clients within that process, they say in the National Bank of Serbia. When making a decision on granting a loan, banks must assess the creditworthiness of each individual debtor, as well as other relevant factors. In addition, banks decide independently and freely on the specific choice of the customer.