In recent years I have been paying by card almost everywhere. But lately I started carrying some cash with me. Especially when I go to the farmers market. Turns out I’m not the only one. According to one of the large banks, if earlier, on average, Russians withdrew 33 thousand rubles at a time, now the check has increased to more than 42 thousand.
Experts explain this for several reasons. Firstly, the fact that banks have slightly tightened their requirements to combat financial fraud. This leads to the fact that from time to time someone’s cards are blocked. It takes time to re-access your accounts. Therefore, it is easier to have cash in reserve.
– Banks have begun to block questionable transactions more frequently. For example, if expensive purchases are made in a short time, explains Georgiy Ostapkovich, professor at the Higher School of Economics.
The second reason is the fight against the underground economy. For example, many private entrepreneurs do not accept bank cards, but ask to transfer money through the Quick Payment System (by phone number). If there are many such payments, the bank may block the card. Then the seller is forced to change banks or pay in cash. And buyers must have it on hand or withdraw it at the nearest ATM. This is exactly what happened at my farmers market.
At the same time, in the southern regions this behavior is quite common. And not only in the markets, but even in large restaurants. Anyone who has been there on summer vacation knows this. Mysteriously, bank terminals in tourist areas are turned off. Probably because of the heat…
– We employ about 10 million people in the informal sector. They are people who are not registered anywhere and do not pay any taxes. Most often they need cash,” explains Georgy Ostapkovich.
Furthermore, we are not only talking about entrepreneurs, but also about workers employed without registration or with a minimum wage. The employer pays them most of their earnings in an envelope, and to have something to put in the envelope without paying taxes, it is advisable to sell goods and services for cash.
To be fair, dry data from the Central Bank does not confirm the hypothesis about the renewed love of Russians for cash. Quite the opposite. According to data from October 1 of this year, there were 17 trillion 883 billion rubles in Russians’ wallets, cash registers and ATMs. And exactly a year ago it was half a trillion more – 18 trillion 350 billion rubles (this, by the way, was the peak).
Dry data from the Central Bank do not confirm the hypothesis about the renewed love of Russians for cash.
Photo: REUTERS.
This behavior is quite understandable. Now it is more profitable to keep money in the bank. You can deposit it at 20% per year, receive 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. And if the seller refuses to accept payment by bank transfer, it doesn’t matter. In most cases, you can turn to someone else, someone who is not afraid of the tax office, because they pay taxes and fees. Well, or at least he doesn’t transfer his own problems to customers.
How did the volume of cash in circulation vary?
Year – Volume (trillions of rubles)
2019: 10.2 trillion rubles.
2020: 12.8 trillion rubles.
2021: 13.9 trillion rubles.
2022: 15.2 trillion rubles.
2023: 18.3 trillion rubles.
2024: 17.9 trillion rubles.
According to the Central Bank as of October 1 of each year.
