All news
Interest in cash has awakened? Why Russians have started withdrawing more money from ATMs
Nowadays, people pay by card almost everywhere. But recently, I started carrying some cash. Especially when I go to the farmers market. It turns out, I wasn’t alone. According to one of the major banks, if the average Russian used to withdraw 33,000 rubles at a time, now the checks have increased to more than 42,000.
Experts explain this for various reasons. First, banks have tightened their requirements to combat financial fraud. Sometimes this leads to someone's card being blocked. It will take some time to restore access to your account. So it's easier to stock up on cash.
- Banks have started blocking dubious transactions more often. For example, if you buy something expensive in a short period of time, - explains Georgy Ostapkovich, professor at the Higher School of Economics.
The second reason is the fight against the shadow economy. For example, many individual entrepreneurs do not accept bank cards, but ask to send money through fast payment systems (phone numbers). If these payments are large, your bank can block your card. Then the seller will have to go to another bank or pay in cash. Moreover, the buyer must keep it in person or withdraw it from the nearest ATM. This is exactly what happened at the farmers' market.
At the same time, such behavior is very common in the southern regions. This concerns not only markets, but also large restaurants. Anyone who has been on summer vacation knows this. It is curious that the bank terminal in the resort area is switched off. Perhaps it is because of the heat...
- We employ about 10 million people in the informal sector. These are people who are not registered anywhere and do not pay taxes. Most often, we need cash," explains Georgy Ostapkovich.
And this doesn't just apply to entrepreneurs, but also to workers who don't register or work for minimum wage. Your employer pays you by converting a large portion of your income, and if you want to have something that can be converted tax-free, it might be a good idea to sell your goods and services for cash.
Frankly, the central bank's dry data does not support the hypothesis that Russians have renewed their love for cash. Quite the opposite. According to data as of October 1 of this year, Russians had 17.883 trillion rubles in their wallets, cash registers, and ATMs. And exactly one year ago, it was $500 billion more. It amounted to 18.35 trillion rubles (by the way, this was the highest figure).
This behavior is understandable. It is better to keep money in the bank now. You can make a deposit at 20% per annum, get cashback when paying by card and transfer up to 30 million rubles per month without commission. After all, paying by card at the checkout is also much more convenient. It does not matter if the seller refuses to accept payment by bank transfer. In most cases, you can turn to someone else who does not need to be afraid of the tax office, since he pays all taxes and fees. Or at least he does not shift his problems onto the shoulders of customers.
According to the Central Bank, as of October 1 of each year.