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Russians pay in cash more often
The share of Russians paying mostly in cash grew by 5 p.p. to reach 30% (before the change in the economic situation, 25% of Russians paid in cash), according to a study by the NAFI analytical center.
Given the changes in the socio-economic situation, there is also a change in the payment behavior of Russians. Some of those who preferred non-cash payments began to use cash more often.
As part of the Current Socio-Economic Monitoring, NAFI compared the typical payment behavior of Russians, i.e. how they usually paid for goods and services over the past year, and their behavior in the changed conditions (in recent days). The survey shows that the share of people who prefer non-cash payments has decreased from 72% to 68%. Nevertheless, the majority of Russians still prefer cashless payments.
This trend is observed in all socio-demographic groups. However, the migration to cash payments was most often seen in the group of Russians aged 25 to 44 with above average incomes. They twice as often reported that they withdrew cash from bank cards and paid for goods and services in cash.
“It is too early to call ditching non-cash payments by Russians a tendency. In Russia, the cashless payments are very popular, and the behavior of those used to them is unlikely to change. All payments on plastic cards within the country go smoothly without any frictions; the difficulties only arise with contactless payments on smartphones and payments in foreign online stores,” said Leysan Baimuratova, Director of Digital Economy Research at the NAFI Analytical Center.