Russia’s share of cashless payments in retail turnover fell by 3 percentage points to 71.1% in January 2026, while cash withdrawals reached RUB1.6 trillion ($17.4bn), the highest since the 2022 full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, according to The Bell citing SberIndex and VTsIOM.

As followed closely by bne IntelliNews, Russia could be seeing a reversal of a long-running shift towards digital and cashless payments.

Previously, the Russian banking system has become one of the global cashless leaders. But  latest data shows that rising tax pressures on consumers and businesses, as well as disruptions to mobile internet access, pushed Russian consumers back into cash.

According to SberIndex data cited by The Bell, the share of non cash payments dropped sharply by 3pp compared with December 2025, an unusual decline for January despite seasonal effects linked to holidays. 

A VTsIOM survey conducted in early March found that 51% of respondents had been asked to pay in cash in early 2026, sometimes with discounts offered, while one in five reported repeated requests.

At the same time, Russians withdrew RUB1.6 trillion ($17.4bn) from bank cards and accounts in January 2026, while returning RUB468bn ($5.1bn) to term deposits, resulting in a net outflow of RUB1.1 trillion ($12bn). 

This made the second-largest monthly outflow in 16 years, after March 2022, when $25.9bn run on deposits was seen. While January typically sees elevated withdrawals due to bonuses and social payments, The Bell noted that the scale of the outflow was unprecedented in recent years.

The Bell, citing international experience, reported that rising cash usage is often associated with an expansion of the shadow economy, despite recent government efforts to crack down on illicit payments and improve tax collectibility.

According to the Gaidar Institute estimates cited by The Bell, Russia’s budget could lose up to RUB0.5 trillion ($5.4bn) in tax revenues from VAT-linked small and micro businesses, which have “certain opportunities for tax optimisation, not limited exclusively to legal methods.”

In a separate report, Interfax said that the Finance Ministry will assess the need to introduce VAT on transfers via the domestic Fast Payments System (SPB)  in autumn 2026, according to Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov.

This could further increase the cost of cashless payments and strengthen the cash withdrawal trend.

The Finance Ministry previously estimated that cancelling previous VAT exemptions would generate around RUB30bn ($0.33bn) annually for the federal budget, stating that the measure would not significantly hinder the development of cashless payments.