Just in case: Russians are actively withdrawing cash
Banks have increased their control over fraudsters, which has led to an increase in the number of card blockers. For this and some other reasons, Russians increasingly prefer to carry cash with them. And small businesses often prefer "real" money again, as they did decades ago. Izvestia found out how to minimize the risk of blocking your card and how "paper" sentiment will affect the cashless payment market in Russia.
Dear acquiring
In the third quarter, Russians withdrew five times more cash than a year ago, 659 billion rubles, according to the Central Bank. One of the reasons is the savings of many small businesses on bank acquiring.
The average cost range of the service is 0.5–2.5% of sales, and there may also be fixed payments, says Pavel Paevsky, Head of the Credit Analysis and Macroeconomics Department at RSHB Asset Management LLC.
— Of course, the increased level of interest rates in the economy is important, which has significantly affected enterprises with a high debt burden. When an enterprise receives cash, it significantly reduces the costs of a number of banking transactions, which supports its operational efficiency (of the enterprise)," the analyst points out.
At the same time, according to him, this effect for enterprises cannot be called sustainable, since with an increase in cash, companies' costs begin to rise, including collection costs.
Blockages have become more frequent
Experts cite increased bank control over "P2P" money transfers as another reason for the growth of "cash" sentiment, which increasingly leads to the blocking of payment recipients' cards. But senders also run the risk of having their cards blocked.
In 2025, the government tightened control over the movement of funds within the country. Now banks have the right to impose restrictions on financial transactions of citizens at the request of Rosfinmonitoring. Or on their own initiative, if they suspect that the money was obtained illegally or fell into the hands of intruders. As a result of temporary blockages, including bona fide transactions, there has been a noticeable increase.
— Banks do not block accounts "just in case", but act based on the requirements of the law in order to prevent customer losses from fraudulent actions, as well as minimize their risks and possible losses. This measure is definitely effective against customers who transfer their cards, consciously or unconsciously, to fraudsters to commit theft," says Sergey Igoshin, Head of the Fraud Prevention Department at Svoi Bank.
The Bank of Russia records an increase in complaints from Russians about unjustified account blocking, said the head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina. She called the increased number of blocking cases "an overreach" in the fight against fraudsters, noting that complaints about unjustified account blocking have become more frequent.
You can play it safe
However, you can protect yourself from an unexpected blocking of a card or account if you follow a number of rules.
To protect yourself, you need to observe information and financial hygiene, says Kristina Aksenova, head of the Department for the development of digital channels and bank cards at BBR Bank. That is, do not accept amounts from strangers or unfamiliar people into your accounts, do not provide your cards or their details to anyone, do not open accounts and cards to transfer their data to third parties, do not provide codes from CMC, do not try to apply for loans according to the requirements of third parties, whoever they may be.
— Maximum transparency of operations is important. That is, for individuals, it is necessary to indicate the actual purpose of the payment. Also, you should not make transfers to strangers who have not previously been counterparties in account transactions. Avoid instant transfers when, after receiving a certain amount, it is transferred further or back," says Yuri Isaev, an analyst at the service. Brobank.ru .
"Cashless" — that's it?
The share of non—cash payments in Russia remains at 87%, one of the highest rates among the world's major economies. And, despite the active demand for the cache, it is clearly not going to shrink. According to the Bank of Russia, from July to September 2025, the number of non-cash transactions for goods and services in Russia increased by 13% compared to the same period last year.
Experts link these two seemingly opposite trends with multidirectional factors. On the one hand, it is true that the role of cash in the everyday (consumer) economy of households is increasing — and this is largely due to the actions of small businesses.
— On the other hand, the share of cash in the structure of the money supply (M2 aggregate) in the economy decreased to 15.1% against 16.4% as of 11/01/25. Thus, the current growth of cash in circulation in the Russian economy is insignificant," Pavel Paevsky points out.
This is largely due to the fact that Russian businesses, along with the telecommunications industry, are already overcoming the challenges they face.
— Difficulties with mobile communication are beginning to be eliminated due to the introduction of technologies that allow you to pay for goods and services without the Internet. Secondly, the regions with the largest money supply (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory) face the least difficulties in paying for goods or services, which is reflected in cash turnover — in all three regions, the actual amount of cash decreased from year to year, — says Yuri Isaev.
Thus, analysts do not expect a collapse in non-cash transactions at any time, moreover, the share of non-cash payments in the economy is likely to continue its growth. At the same time, the demand for cash will remain at a fairly high level — as a tool for "psychological support," says Maxim Minkin, a researcher at the Digital Society Lab. In conditions of uncertainty, it is important for people to have physical confirmation of the resource, at least some part of it.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
