VTB Bank Opportunity Privilege Credit Card

You can receive the card for free — the bank does not charge an additional fee for its issuance. Maintenance of the card itself is also free. Access to premium services costs 2,990 RUB per month. 

But you can use the privileges for free if you meet at least one of the following conditions:

1. Maintain a minimum balance in accounts and deposits of at least 2,500,000 RUB if you reside in Moscow, or at least 2,000,000 RUB if you reside in another region of Russia.
2. Maintain a minimum balance in accounts and deposits of at least 1,500,000 RUB and make card purchases totaling at least 100,000 RUB per month.
3. Make card purchases totaling at least 125,000 RUB per month.
4. Receive salary on the card totaling at least 200,000 RUB per month.
5. Hold at least 45,000,000 VTB shares in your portfolio.
6. Execute trades under brokerage services totaling at least 10,000,000 RUB per month.

As an additional service, you can enable notifications for incoming and outgoing transactions. The option costs 79 RUB per month.

VTB offers a fairly large credit limit for the Opportunity Card — from 10,000 to 1,000,000 RUB. You will only know your available amount after the card is approved. This is because the credit limit depends on many factors, including your credit history, debt load, salary size, place of work, presence of minor children and other dependents, and so on. 

Although VTB offers a limit of up to 1,000,000 RUB, it is almost impossible to get the maximum amount immediately. Especially if you are not a payroll client of the financial institution and do not hold a large deposit with them.

If you are applying to VTB for the first time, you will likely be able to get no more than 50,000-100,000 RUB. However, in the future, you will be able to increase the available limit if you constantly use the credit card and make mandatory minimum payments on time.

The first interest-free period for the card is 200 days. It starts on the first day of the month in which the contract was concluded. All subsequent interest-free periods are up to 110 days. 

A feature of the grace period on this card is that it applies not only to non-cash payment for goods and services, but also to cash withdrawals and transfers of borrowed funds.

If you do not have enough funds on hand to fully repay the debt on the credit card, you can make only the mandatory minimum payment. This will help you avoid overdue payments and penalty charges. 

The amount of mandatory minimum payments for the Vozzmozhnostey Card is 3% of the debt amount. They must be paid by the 20th of each month.

As mentioned above, VTB does not charge interest on non-cash payments for goods and services, as well as cash withdrawals and transfers of borrowed funds, provided the debt is repaid before the end of the grace period.

In other cases, the overpayment is:

• from 9.9% to 24.9% on non-cash payments for goods and services made in the first 30 days of service;
• from 49.9% to 59.9% per annum on non-cash payments for goods and services made from the 31st day of service;
• 24.9% per annum on cash withdrawals and transfers of borrowed funds.

If you do not repay the credit card debt in full and do not make the mandatory minimum payments, the bank charges a penalty. Its amount is 0.1% per day of the debt amount plus accrued interest.

The advantage of this credit card is that you can withdraw cash and transfer borrowed funds for free during the first 30 days of service for an amount up to 100,000 RUB. After that, you will need to pay a fee of 5.9% plus 590 RUB.

The credit card features a profitable bonus program. Every month, you can choose 4 increased cashback categories out of 12 possible ones. You will also have an additional category if you receive your salary on a VTB card.

The maximum reward in increased cashback categories is 25% per annum. You can get up to 50% more at partner stores of the Multibonus program.

The maximum reward amount you can receive is 30,000 bonuses per month. The bank credits them in rubles to the master account.

You can get the Vozzmozhnostey credit card if you meet the following bank requirements:

• Russian citizenship;
• with permanent registration in the region where there is a VTB branch;
• with an official income from 15,000 RUB per month.

As for documents, to apply for a credit card with a limit of up to 100,000 RUB, only a Russian internal passport is required. If you need a higher limit, you will additionally need to provide certificates confirming your income and place of work.

If you are a working pensioner, to apply for a credit card you will need a Russian internal passport, a pensioner's ID, and a document confirming the amount of your pension. At the same time, the maximum available limit for you will be 100,000 RUB.

Pros:

• free card issuance;
• free card maintenance;
• large credit limit — up to 1,000,000 RUB;
• long interest-free period — up to 200 days;
• ability to withdraw cash and transfer borrowed funds in the first 30 days of service for an amount up to 100,000 RUB;
• opportunity to get up to 50% cashback;
• opportunity to issue a card with a limit of up to 100,000 RUB with just a Russian citizen passport.

Cons:

• paid premium services;
• high commission for cash withdrawals and credit funds transfers;
• you need to provide certificates confirming income and place of work to get a card with a limit exceeding 100,000 RUB.