“The level of distrust in the banking system is too high”
A bill on deposits for the poor has been submitted to the State Duma. According to the document, no more than 50 thousand rubles can be deposited into the account. The interest on the «social» contribution is defined as the key rate plus 1%. That is, today it is 8.5%. Which, of course, is beneficial — poor citizens will be able to receive additional income without risking anything. But how many will agree to give 50 thousand rubles to the bank?
Citizens receiving social support from the state, as a rule, live «from paycheck to paycheck», do not have savings and, therefore, investments are completely irrelevant for them. They will clearly prefer to «invest» in food, medical treatment, or covering utility bills.
Banks will open social deposits and accounts, follows from a bill that a group of senators and deputies submitted to the State Duma. Such products will provide a guaranteed accrual of funds for citizens with low incomes. The rate on them will be tied to the key rate of the Central Bank.
Only citizens receiving social support from the state will be able to open such accounts, and information about these people should be stored in the Unified Social Security Information System (EGISSO). The maximum deposit amount is 50 thousand rubles. Banks will not be able to charge commissions from such clients for opening an account or conducting transactions in the amount of up to 15 thousand rubles. per month.
Meanwhile, all those in need are registered in the EGISSO social security system. As a rule, they receive various kinds of benefits and subsidies with the help of public services. They can also open a new deposit there.
“According to the text of the bill, such social accounts and deposits will be available to the category of low-income citizens whose benefits and benefits from the state depend on the average per capita income,” said Artem Deev, head of the analytical department at AMarkets. — That is, it is at least 200 thousand people across the country. It is easy to calculate that, in the most ideal scenario, banks will be able to raise up to 10 trillion rubles from citizens.”
It turns out that the main beneficiaries of the new undertaking will be the banks, which will suddenly receive a new social group of clients. However, will they? What will force the poor to give banks for some, obviously not a short period, as much as 50 thousand rubles — obviously, a considerable amount for themselves?
The main advantage for depositors should be the opportunity to live on interest — after all, it is proposed to pay income from the deposit monthly. But the interest rate raises questions, says Polina Gusyatnikova, senior managing partner at PG Partners.
“The interest benefit compared to standard bank deposits, given the limits on the amount, is not so obvious. For example, now the current refinancing rate is 7.5%, respectively, the interest rate on deposits for the poor will be 8.5% per annum. If a deposit is made for a year in the amount of 50 thousand rubles, then the depositor will receive approximately 354 rubles a month. If he uses a regular bank deposit, which can now be found at about 6% per annum, then his monthly income will be around 250 rubles. That is, the difference is quite small,” the expert explains.
It should also be noted that Russians with low incomes (those who earn from 15 to 30 thousand rubles a month) are extremely economical and conservative behavior, says the manager partner of the communication agency B&C Agency Ivan Samoylenko.
“The level of distrust in the banking system of the Russian Federation is too high — the experience of the default of the late 90s and fears that you can generally lose your savings in the event of a banking crisis are affecting. Most likely, this situation will improve along with the stabilization of the economy after some time — then the number of such depositors in the country will grow, ”the interlocutor of MK believes.
In turn, the stock market expert at BCS Mir investment” Valery Yemelyanov believes that there will be no wide demand for a “deposit for the poor”.
“People who are accustomed to cash, in the face of an acute shortage of money, will not open a deposit and transfer all their family “accounting” online to have a couple of hundred rubles of profit per month. And those who are already accustomed to using cards and online deposits will continue to use them. They do not need social contributions, they are already familiar with banking products. Well, there is some small part of the poor for whom savings accounts will be a pleasant discovery, and they will try them,” he concludes.