According to BCG report Global Payments 2020: Fast Forward into the Future, Russia is among the five world leaders in terms of speed for the transition to non-cash payments during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Analysts calculated the net change in consumer cash payments, based on the proportion of consumers who used cash more frequently during the pandemic minus the percentage of consumers who used it less. In Russia the change was estimated at -48%. Only the UK (-62%), Canada (-59%) and Australia (-53%) are ahead of Russia for this indicator
According to the Bank of Russia, the proportion of non-cash payments increased to almost 70% in Q2 2020. The central bank expected such an amount of non-cash payments to be reached only by the end of 2020.
The full version of this article appeared in Russian language in RBC.
Another study by Sberbank confirmed that Russia is steering away from cash faster than expected. Click here for more details.
