Russians prefer to keep their savings in rubles, and the previously popular currencies — the dollar and the euro — are increasingly becoming the subject of sale. First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Kirill Tsarev spoke about this on the eve of the EEF, which takes place on Russky Island in Vladivostok from September 10 to 13. He said that the yuan is gaining more and more popularity among residents of the country and interest in the Chinese currency is only growing.
First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Kirill Tsarev. photo: Sber press service
“Certainly, the most popular currency in the portfolio of Russians at the moment is the ruble. But other currencies are also in demand, the Chinese yuan being the most popular among them. The share of the yuan in the foreign currency portfolio of Sber individuals' funds increased to 12%. We predict that by the end of the year the yuan portfolio will double,” Tsarev answered a RIA Novosti correspondent when asked about the most popular currencies in Russia today.
He added that other popular currencies for Russians’ savings include dirhams UAE. This portfolio is also expected to grow like other friendly currencies, but not as much as the yuan. In general, in addition to rubles, the bank offers accounts in 11 currencies, deposits in yuan and dirhams.
As for the dollar and euro, Tsarev noted that there has been a significant increase in interest in the sale of previously purchased or withdrawn cash from these currencies. A gradual increase in the volume of cash currency sold has been recorded since the beginning of 2023, and the latest volatility in the foreign exchange market has further accelerated this trend.
The first deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank also spoke about the development of international cooperation.
“We constantly interact with foreign partners on the development of financial services. A striking example is our system of cross-border transfers — now you can use it to transfer funds to 11 countries, and this is not only the neighboring countries. At the same time, we develop products and services that help guests from other countries feel comfortable in Russia. And the number of foreigners who are served by Sberbank is constantly growing,” Tsarev said.
He cited Chinese citizens as an example. Having analyzed the flow of Chinese citizens to the offices of a credit institution, it became clear that it is also growing: since March of this year, in almost all regions of the country, except for the Volga region, there has been an increase in the number of visits to the bank. At the same time, the largest number is in Moscow; the number of requests to the bank for services has increased — almost 2.5 times compared to August last year. Next come St. Petersburg and Primorsky Krai. In general, during the first half of the year, Chinese citizens contacted our offices more than 300 thousand times to receive services.
A separate point for improving international cooperation in the financial sector is the Central Bank’s pilot project for international transfers through the Faster Payments System, in which the bank participates. Now it is in the connection stage.
“Our clients can transfer funds abroad in rubles using our own transfer system and through a network of respondents. Now such transfers are sent to 8 neighboring countries, as well as to Serbia and India. More recently, it has become possible to send such transfers to Iran. We continue to work to expand the number of available countries and currencies,” Tsarev said.
He noted that the bank is also working to expand the geography of accepting cards abroad and partnerships in other countries so that Russians can make payments abroad .
“We are planning a number of pilot launches in countries where a large number of Russians are present. We are also working on a solution for guests from other countries in the Sber acquiring network in Russia and the possibility of remotely opening accounts and cards for foreigners for payments when traveling around our country,” Tsarev emphasized.