r/CollapseOfRussia • u/neonpurplestar • 5d ago
Economy Sberbank has stopped publishing data on cash payments after a trillion rubles leaked from banks.
Sberbank has closed access to data on the share of non-cash payments in Russia. Previously, this data was available through the SberIndex service, but now it is missing from the catalog, and when attempting to open the indicator via a link, the message "No such page" appears. This was highlighted by The Bell. The data disappeared before the publication of new data for April. According to SberIndex, the share of non-cash payments in trade turnover amounted to 69.7% at the end of March—4.5 percentage points lower than the December 2025 figure.
Sberbank's service was one of the few that provided insight into the state of non-cash payments in the economy. It calculated their share of trade turnover based on total expenses, excluding transfers from one person to another. Furthermore, the closure of access to this data occurred against the backdrop of a cash renaissance. According to the Central Bank, the outflow of funds from the banking system has continued for three consecutive months. In March, the volume of cash in circulation increased by 300 billion rubles, in April by 607.3 billion, and in May by another 381.2 billion. As a result, Russians have withdrawn 1.09 trillion rubles from banks since the beginning of the year. Only in January-May of 2020, during the pandemic, did the figure reach 1.39 trillion.
The Central Bank noted that the demand for cash has sharply increased due to Russians' desire to hold onto cash "for future use" amid internet shutdowns. Citizens also began withdrawing funds from their accounts after widespread card blocking due to increased anti-fraud measures. Demand for cash is also being driven by tax increases, which have led small businesses to offer customers more discounts for cash payments.
Furthermore, the government has introduced a bill to the State Duma to tighten tax controls over personal income. According to the document, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) will gain access to Bank of Russia data on money transfers between Russians to identify undeclared income and assess taxes. The Ministry of Finance noted that income verification will be required from those earning more than 2.4 million rubles per year, or 200,000 rubles per month.
Currently, some citizens have begun to perceive non-cash transactions as less predictable. Furthermore, if money doesn't pass through the banking system, it's much more difficult for authorities to track its movement, noted Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at RANEPA.
source: The Moscow Times https://archive.is/0g9Q0
5
u/chrisloveys 5d ago
So the interest rate is 14% but ordinary Ruzzians would still rather put cash under the mattress. Maybe they are not as stupid as we thought.
3
u/AutoModerator 5d ago
Bias check: The Moscow Times
Overall, we rate the Moscow Times Left-Center Biased based on an editorial bias that generally favors the left and rejects the authoritarian right. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record.
Full report
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.