Experts explained a record decrease in cash withdrawal from cards
In the first quarter of 2025, citizens were much less likely to withdraw money at ATMs than in the previous 14 years. Card payments were also reduced to a two -year minimum. However, in the world, the population also reduces the use of cards against the background of the growth of alternative types of payments. At the same time, experts also call a number of specific factors, among which the growth of investments in deposits and reducing the issuance of consumer loans. And in the near future, the struggle against droppers may influence the size of cashing.
According to data The Bank of Russia, in the first quarter of 2025, the lowest number of cash withdrawal operations from bank cards was recorded over the past 14 years – 394 million. Less, cash was removed only in the first quarter of 2009 (392.5 million times). In terms of cash withdrawal, the anti -record is also set – 7.6 trillion rubles, a minimum from the first quarter of 2023 (6.9 trillion rubles). At the same time, the volume of payment by cards of goods and services is also reduced, in the reporting quarter it amounted to 13.2 trillion rubles, which is less than the fourth quarter of 2024 by 2.5 trillion rubles. and 185 billion rubles. Less indicator of year ago.
Experts associate the reduction of both payment of goods and services, and withdrawal of cash from cards with the simultaneous action of several factors.
The managing director of the expert RA rating agency Yuri Belikov believes that this could affect this record market rates, which have to save funds in classical deposit products, as well as a strong reduction in consumer loans, which are traditionally cashed out for some part. According to the Central Bank, the average maximum rate of the entire first quarter of 2025 lasted above 20% per annum, which has never been during the entire calculation since July 2009. The issuance of cash loans in the first quarter of this year was 2.2 times lower than in the first quarter of 2024. “The high debt burden of citizens, formed as a result of the dispersal of retail lending over the past four years, distracts most of the income for loan service,” Mr. Belikov also notes. Konstantin Borodulin, managing director of the ratings of financial institutions of the rating service, notes that « a significant expansion of the limit to transfers through SBP to his own accounts in various banks contributed to a decrease in cash turnover during large purchases and transactions. »
However, the reducing share of cards in payment services is a world trend, experts say. In particular, according to Global Payments Report 2025, pure card transactions are reduced all over the world, payment habits around the world are inclined to alternative payment methods. “In the USA and most of the Western countries, more and more payments are switched to tokenized wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.), in China these are WECHAT and Alipay wallets, which are the dominant payment method there, UPI (an analogue of our SBP) is used, which has already been ahead of cash and cards on cards together together Taken, ”Lists an independent expert Maxim Mitusov.
At the same time, according to the statistics of the Bank of Russia, cash flows in retail trade in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 increased by 3.3%. The MVA-Professor of the Digital Finance of the Presidential Academy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexei Voilukov, believes that the simultaneous increase in retail revolutions and reducing payment by banking instruments can only be explained by an increase in cash. And the fact that cash began to remove less from cards may indicate that citizens began to receive more salary in envelopes. “This was quite expected, given that from January 1, a progressive taxation scale was introduced in Russia, as a result, some entrepreneurs tried to optimize tax payments,” Mr. Volukov notes.
In the medium term, experts also do not expect a surge of cashing out funds.
Moreover, as the head of the Board of the Association “Financial Innovations”, Roman Prokhorov, “In the second and next quarters to reduce the share of cash withdrawal, can be affected by an active struggle with droppers”. However, Yuri Belikov believes that over time, this indicator will stop decline and begin smooth normalization, tremendously heading for the average levels. “This will be caused by a smooth cycle of reducing market rates and the beginning of revitalization of retail lending,” he said.
