CBR annulls banking license of Drive Click Bank due to voluntary liquidation

MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia has annulled the banking operations license of Drive Click Bank (owned by Sberbank ), according to a statement from the regulator.

The decision was made based on a request from the credit institution that was submitted to the Central Bank in connection with the decision of its sole participant to voluntarily liquidate the bank.

A liquidation commission will be appointed for the credit institution.

Sberbank announced the completion of the integration of its auto loan business in September.

The annulment of the license of a bank being liquidated based on a decision by its founders on a voluntary basis differs from the process of a forced license revocation, according to the Drive Click Bank website. During voluntary liquidation, the credit institution is given the opportunity to manage the process of terminating its operations independently. This implies that its property is sufficient for settlements with creditors.

"After the license is annulled, the Fast Payments System (FPS) will cease to work, as the bank will not be able to conduct operations on current accounts. It will become impossible to transfer funds from other current accounts via the FPS," the bank said.

The bank reminds clients that despite the annulment of the license, the obligation to repay the loan remains in full, and the payment schedule remains unchanged. However, from the day the license is annulled, new details must be used for loan repayment, it said.

It was previously reported that the loans of Drive Click Bank were being transferred to Sberbank for servicing.

Drive Click Bank is a participant in the deposit insurance system.

The bank recommends that clients contact the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) to receive funds from their accounts up to 1.4 million rubles.

Drive Click Bank (formerly Cetelem Bank) was one of the leaders in the Russian auto lending market. Like a number of other Sberbank subsidiaries, it came under U.S. blocking sanctions in April 2022.

Sberbank became a shareholder of Cetelem Bank in 2012. An agreement on a joint venture with BNP Paribas Personal Finance gave Sberbank the opportunity to buy out the partner's stake and consolidate 100% of Cetelem Bank at a certain stage of business development.

In Q3 2025, Drive Click Bank ranked 113th in terms of asset size in the Interfax-100 ranking prepared by Interfax-CEA.