Financial knowledge crisis

Almost two-thirds of the population do not trust Russian banks

The poorer and less educated Russians are, the more they distrust financial institutions. This conclusion can be drawn from a study prepared by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM). Bankers interviewed by the newspaper also note that the low level of financial culture prevents the population from understanding what can actually be obtained from credit institutions.

The survey involved 1,600 people from 153 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia. 36.5% of respondents believe that large Russian banks are reliable and can be trusted, but 63.55% do not trust financial institutions. According to the study, people with lower incomes have, on average, worse attitudes towards banks than those who have the opportunity to save money. For example, 67.5% of those surveyed who spent all their income for the last three to four years do not trust credit institutions, while more than half of the respondents (50.2%) who can save part of their income trust banks .

Knowledge of the services that financial institutions offer also affects the degree of trust in them. According to VTsIOM, 77.2% of those who do not understand banking services do not trust large Russian banks. And 64.8% of those respondents who consider their knowledge about credit institutions sufficient, believe in the reliability of banks. “People who don’t know what finance is, what services can be obtained from a credit institution, believe that banks exist to deceive,” agrees Promsvyazbank Vice President Valery Kardashov. “And vice versa, those who have a financial culture trust banks to one degree or another.”

According to the study, those citizens who do not trust financial institutions and have no idea about their activities believe that the amount of savings should be at least 112 thousand rubles, and those who completely trust banks should be 206 thousand rubles. According to VTsIOM, the less respondents want to save money, the less they trust banks. Those for whom savings start with a larger amount are more likely to trust the Russian banking system.

Another conclusion that VTsIOM draws from its study: distrustful citizens are ready to be content with low rates at the bank - 5.5-6.1%, but in return they want reliability. Those who trust are willing to take risks (these respondents rate the possible investment risk as average). For them, an acceptable return is 6.9-7.4% per annum. As follows from the commentary to the study, “the disloyalty of the population cannot be compensated for by high interest rates on deposits; consumers who enter the market in the future are highly likely to prefer a less profitable, but from their point of view more reliable, alternative as soon as it arises” . The bankers interviewed by the newspaper do not agree with this conclusion. According to Mr. Kardashov, “customers who come to the bank for the first time to open a deposit are interested in both the reliability and profitability of deposits, so competition on rates among banks will only grow.”

Natalia ROMANOVA