Russians now view banks differently, as shown by a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM). The results show that they prefer to reduce daily expenses by keeping free funds in a bank account.
"The way Russians view banks has changed significantly in just a year: if in June of 2016 only 33% of citizens kept money in bank accounts, in June of 2017 this figure reached 54%," sociologists note.
Trust indexes are growing, which means that confidence in banks is strengthening. Despite the fact that many are tired of current crisis, people see positive changes in financial structures and are ready to trust them.
A researcher at the Center for Study of Structural Studies of the Institute of Applied Economic Researches of RANEPA, Mikhail Khromov, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza for banks, what's important is not quantity, but quality of deposits.
"The volume of population's deposits is growing. In fact, it did not decline last year. The only year when deposits were declining was 2014. So even if a large part of the population said that it did not trust banks before, deposits did not decrease anyway. That's what we have to take into account when we talk about what respondents mean by saying that they trust or do not trust," he noted.
The head of the finance, monetary circulation and credit department at RANEPA, Alexander Khandruev, had a different opinion.
"It's good that they trust banks. It means that state banks will get more money. Right now the economy is recovering, but it's unclear whether we will move into the economic recovery phase or will enter another stagnation phase: a lot depends on what combination of factors we will see, as well as on market conditions, business climate and actions of the state apparatus," he said.
