Paper Games: Cash has become the most popular way to store savings
Russians have begun to abandon bank accounts in favor of cash when storing savings. In September, 38% of citizens preferred cash, according to inFOM analytics. This is due to Internet failures, as well as attempts by some people to avoid taxes in this way. Against this background, the regulator plans to tighten control over the deposit of cash into accounts. The authorities expect that the revenues from economic whitewashing in 2027 will amount to 0.5 trillion rubles. What control measures can be introduced and how to protect savings from inflation can be found in the Izvestia article.
In what form do Russians prefer to keep their money?
In September, cash became the most popular method of storing money — 38% of respondents called it preferred, according to a study by inFOM commissioned by the Bank of Russia (Izvestia analyzed it). Over the year, the share increased by 6 percentage points, which is the largest figure since the spring of 2022.
The cache even bypassed bank accounts — 37% of the respondents chose them. A year ago, the picture was completely different: the option with credit institutions won by a wide margin. In September 2025, 43% of respondents chose him. Keeping money in accounts has been the most popular for many years — at least since 2014. It wasn't until the spring of 2022 that the demand for cash skyrocketed and cash bypassed banks.
In the latest survey, 10% of respondents preferred to keep their savings partly in a credit institution and partly in cash. Izvestia has requested the regulator and inFOM.
The growing popularity of cash is related to the desire to have direct access to their funds, explained Natalia Belova, Deputy General Director of Rosgosstrakh Life insurance company. Their use does not depend on the operation of the banking application, the Internet and communications, and also does not require additional checks of transactions. Therefore, for some Russians, money "at hand" looks like a more understandable and predictable way to create a financial reserve, especially against the background of Internet outages.
The tightening of control over financial transactions is also affecting — in recent months, banks have become more likely to freeze individual transactions and even accounts for verification. And it's important for a person to be able to buy groceries, medicines, or pay their way at any time, explained Freedom Global analyst Vladimir Chernov. According to him, for the sake of such confidence, people are ready to give up cashback, which they could receive when paying with a card.
In addition, since September last year, the Central Bank has lowered its key rate from 18% to 14%. Along with it, deposit rates are falling, which makes them less attractive, the expert recalled.
Increased demand for cash in Russia has been observed since the winter of 2026. From February to September, the volume of cash in circulation increased by 3.3 trillion. At the same time, according to the forecast of the Central Bank, for the whole of 2026, the volume of cash in circulation will increase by 3.7 trillion rubles. In 2027, the pace will slow down, with an increase of about 2 trillion rubles.
Izvestia has requested large financial organizations. Nikita Kamyshny, head of the financial reporting department at OTP Bank, said that they do not record the demand for cash. Renaissance Bank also does not observe a sharp trend, said Denis Mavlanov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board. At the same time, Dmitry Gritskevich, Head of Banking and financial Market Analysis at PSB, drew attention to the fact that deposits opened a year ago are being extended at lower rates, so there are indeed more people who prefer to keep their savings in cash.
According to the experts interviewed, the increased demand for cash is likely to continue. The trend will be especially noticeable if deposit rates decrease and problems with access to non-cash payments persist or worsen.
How the authorities control the amount of cash
In this regard, the country is strengthening control over the circulation of cash. First of all, attention is paid to the origin of funds and transactions that may be related to unregistered trade, tax evasion or money laundering.
For example, the Bank of Russia will prepare a new recommendation for credit institutions to strengthen control over the origin of cash deposited by citizens and businesses. Bogdan Shablya, head of the Central Bank's financial monitoring and currency control service, noted that it is especially important to strengthen checks in segments of the economy with a large amount of cash, since shadow businesses often use cash to circumvent procedures. The regulator urged banks not to limit themselves to formal verification of the financial situation of customers and to prevent the legalization of funds obtained by criminal means.
The authorities also intend to tighten control over the movement of paper money across the border. In Russia, they plan to monitor cases when several batches of funds are processed using a single supporting document.
In addition, on September 29, individuals were banned from exporting more than 1 million rubles to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), as well as to Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. There are exceptions, but there are few of them, said Denis Astafyev, fund manager and founder of the SharesPro fintech platform. For example, through certain airports with documents confirming the origin of the entire amount.
Now the government is focused on whitewashing the economy. Departments are tightening controls in domestic and foreign trade, fighting gray salaries, and also more closely monitoring the turnover of cash and digital currencies. In the draft budget for the next three years, revenue under this item is planned at 500 billion annually.
Control is necessary to prevent concealment of revenue and tax evasion, Denis Astafyev emphasized. But it must be targeted: the use of the cache itself does not prove a violation, the expert explained.
How not to lose money on inflation
Cash may be justified for a short-term reserve in case of Internet outages, but it is unprofitable to store a significant part of the capital in them for several years, Natalia Belova from Rosgosstrakh Life insurance company is sure. Such funds do not generate income, over time they lose their purchasing power, and when stored at home they become more vulnerable to fraudsters.
Prices have increased by almost 5% since the beginning of the year. This means that the 100,000 rubles that have been "under the pillow" since January have retained a purchasing power of about 95,000, explained Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Global. If annual inflation is 5-6%, then in three years the purchasing power of the same amount will decrease by about 16 thousand rubles, the analyst added.
For everyday expenses, it is enough to have cash on hand for one or two weeks, and distribute the rest of the funds among different assets.
Deposits and savings accounts remain the most reliable way to store savings: they are protected by the deposit insurance system, which guarantees a refund of 1.4 million rubles even if the bank's license is revoked, said Sergey Igoshin, head of the Anti-fraud Department at Svoi Bank JSC. Cash that people keep at home lacks such protection — it can be lost due to theft or fire. In addition, they cannot be protected by bank checks and anti-fraud tools: if the money is transferred to fraudsters, it is almost impossible to return it.
Profits can also be made on the stock exchange, added Vladimir Eremkin, senior researcher at the IPEI Structural Research Laboratory at the Presidential Academy. For example, corporate bonds issued by reliable issuers with high credit ratings and OFZs now offer higher yields than bank deposits with a moderate level of risk.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
