Kenneth Glad
Financial choices are shifting after a long period of cautious saving. The change suggests many households are reassessing where to keep their money. New figures point to a broader movement away from locked accounts and toward spending, cash, and investment products.
Russian households cut their fixed-term bank deposits in March for the first time since the panic that followed the Kremlin’s 2022 mobilization drive, The Moscow Times reported.
The outlet cited an analysis by RBC, a Russian business news organization, which reviewed Central Bank data showing a 288 billion ruble decline in term deposits, equal to roughly €3.6 billion.
The decline came as deposit rates moved down from earlier highs, weakening one of the main reasons Russians had kept large sums in term accounts.
Savers look elsewhere
The Central Bank said overall household bank holdings rose by just 0.3% in March, The Moscow Times writes. That increase came from current accounts, not fixed-term deposits.
Longer deposits, especially those lasting more than a year, saw the steepest withdrawals. Many were likely opened when rates were higher in late 2024 or early 2025, before returns fell toward levels last seen in November 2023.
Russian law allows people to withdraw fixed-term deposits early, though they lose interest. But many accounts last less than six months, so savers can also wait for maturity and simply choose not to renew.
Frank RG, a Russian financial consultancy that tracks banking and retail finance trends, says that 2025 growth in retail savings products has come almost entirely from interest already earned, not new money from households.
Cash and cars rise
The money is not all moving in one direction. Some households are holding more cash, partly because of internet outages and payment disruptions, according to the Central Bank data.
Cash in circulation rose by 0.3 trillion rubles, roughly €3.7 billion, in March and another 0.6 trillion rubles, about €7.4 billion, in April, according to the reports. The figures refer to broader cash circulation, not only cash physically held by households.
Spending also appears to be recovering in some areas. Car sales rose 30.6% year-on-year in March and 15.1% in April after declines earlier in 2025, The Moscow Times reports.
Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said high rates pushed Russia’s household savings rate to a record 16.6% of income in 2024. He expects that rate to fall as returns decline and more money reaches the consumer economy.
Bonds gain attention
Other savers are turning to securities. The online newspaper reported that Russians bought 139 billion rubles, about €1.7 billion, in corporate bonds in March and 157 billion rubles, roughly €1.9 billion, in April, along with 80 billion rubles, around €980 million, in federal government bonds.
The change does not mean deposits have collapsed. Central Bank data showed Russians still held 46.9 trillion rubles, about €575 billion, in fixed-term accounts out of 67.4 trillion rubles, roughly €826 billion, in total bank holdings as of April 1.
Still, the market is losing momentum. Frank RG found that 27.5% of Russians would keep using deposits even if returns fall, while 24.8% would consider other financial products and 21.2% would begin spending savings.
MMI analysts summed up the mood cautiously. “It is too early to say deposits have lost their attractiveness,” they said, according to The Moscow Times. “But the fact that their appeal is declining is undeniable.”
Sources: The Moscow Times, RCB, Central Bank of Russia, Frank RG
