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- A feasible deposit: the average size of Russians' deposits has grown to 500 thousand rubles.
A feasible deposit: the average size of Russians' deposits has grown to 500 thousand rubles.
Russians continue to increase their capital, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the high key rate. The average size of deposits last year increased by almost 22%, up to 500 thousand rubles. The greatest growth of the indicator fell on deposits with a term of one month. Today, deposits are the simplest, most understandable and low-risk instrument for investing money, experts say. What caused the success of deposits - in the material of "Izvestia".
Solid growth
The volume of Russians' funds deposited in 2024 increased by 21.65%. The average deposit size increased from 411 to 500 thousand rubles by the end of the year. The average check of one deposit amounted to 463 thousand rubles, increasing by 13.5% in annual terms. This is reported by the press service of the financial marketplace "Finuservices", as cited by RIA "Novosti".
The greatest growth of the indicator fell on deposits for one month - it increased more than twice, from Br229 thousand to Br518 thousand. The average size of deposits at the end of last year increased by 37.5%, from Br353 thousand to Br485 thousand. The volume of deposits with a term of six months increased by 4.6%, from almost Br470 thousand to Br491 thousand. The average size of deposits for a year showed an increase of 24.7%, from Br435 thousand to Br542 thousand.
Meanwhile, the average size of long-term deposits showed a decline - in 2024, the indicator for deposits for more than three years fell by 35.9%, from Br367 thousand to Br235 thousand.
By the way, the number of depositors has also increased. According to statistics for 2024, the number of deposits opened through Finuservices increased 3.4 times. In 2023, for comparison, the increase was only 2.5 times. On average, one person opened two deposits last year.
Popular approach
Today, deposits are the simplest, most understandable and low-risk instruments for investing money, says Bogdan Zvarich, chief analyst at Banki.ru. The availability of the deposit insurance system contributes to the reduction of deposit risks.
The observed tendency to growth reflects the current price situation and the current monetary cycle, says the expert on the stock market "BKS World of Investments" Michael Zeltser. At the moment, inflation remains at a high level - the annual figure has already exceeded 10%. The Central Bank is fighting the price growth by means of raising the key rate, which is a priori followed by deposit rates, demonstrating active growth. With the fixed increase in rates, leading to an increase in profitability, and is associated with the popularity of bank deposits among the population, states analyst of FG "Finam" Igor Dodonov.
Another reason is the decreasing demand for other investment instruments, such as the stock market. Among the factors affecting the popularity of deposits, the expert also emphasizes expectations of a slowdown in the Russian economy, increased sanctions pressure on Russia and other risks.
The demand for deposits as a financial instrument is also due to the availability of banking services and the growing level of financial literacy of citizens, says Nikolay Pereslavsky, head of economic research department of CM Service.
Protection from depreciation
Experts have no consensus on how effectively deposits protect funds from growing inflation. Deposit rates are currently more than twice as high as the official inflation rate, says Mikhail Zeltser. For this reason, he believes that deposits are a good tool for preserving funds from depreciation.
At the same time, the current rates allow not only to protect funds from inflation, but also to earn, resulting in increased demand for deposits and the amount of funds on time deposits, believes Bogdan Zvarich.
The deposit rates set by banks do cover official inflation with a large margin, confirms Igor Dodonov. However, in the case of "real" inflation, which people see with their own eyes, watching the change in price tags in stores and the cost of services, the situation is not so clear, he points out.
- According to independent estimates, the basket of so-called fast consumer goods (food and beverages, personal hygiene products, household chemicals, small electronics and other everyday goods) has risen in price by 20-25% over the past year. So the current high deposit rates actually only compensate for this very "real" inflation, - believes the analyst.
Despite the high nominal income, the real profitability of investments may remain low, which jeopardizes the purchasing power of funds, warns, in turn, Nikolai Pereslavsky.
Room for maneuver
The demand for short-term deposits among the population is explained by the fact that banks, as a rule, offered better terms on them than on long-term deposits, says Igor Dodonov.
Another important factor is the financial flexibility offered by short-term deposits in anticipation of further growth of deposit rates, the expert believes. High demand for them is largely due to the rapid access to funds, which they provide, says Bogdan Zvarich.
- If money from the deposit is needed urgently, with a short-term deposit has the opportunity to wait until its end and not lose interest or close early and losses will be minimal, as the money was on deposit for a short time, - explains the analyst.
The depositor may not be able to wait until the end of a long-term deposit, he notes. Banks, however, when closing the deposit early accrue interest at the rate of demand. If a substantial part of the selected period has passed, the losses will be noticeable.
Short-term deposits allow you to quickly transfer money to another deposit with more attractive conditions, says Dodonov. This opportunity was used by citizens.
- In conditions of economic instability such investments become a preferred instrument for preservation and multiplication of savings, especially in conditions of high inflation, - emphasizes Nikolay Pereslavsky.
Long game
Igor Dodonov is convinced that the dynamics of deposit rates in the near future will directly depend on the results of the February meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia.
- I believe that the regulator will not change the key rate again next month, so the deposit rates will remain near the current levels, - forecasts the analyst, recalling that, according to the Central Bank, in the first decade of January, the average maximum rate on deposits in the top 10 banks of the country amounted to 21.7%.
According to the estimation of "BKS World of Investments", the peak of rigidity of the Central Bank's monetary policy has already passed. The maximum value should be the current rate of 21% - the downward cycle will start from it.
- As for the sequester, we are oriented towards the end of the first half of the year. And without force majeure by the end of 2025 we expect the cost of funding to be closer to 16%," says Mikhail Zeltser.
There is, however, the possibility of raising the key rate to 22%, admits Nikolai Pereslavsky. In this case, the yield on deposits will also increase, which will further strengthen their attractiveness for depositors.
One way or another, in 2025, deposits will continue to be the most popular instrument of saving money among citizens, Bogdan Zvarich is convinced. In the first half of the year, the focus is likely to remain on short-term deposits.
On the threshold of transition to the cycle of key rate reduction, credit organizations may begin to preventively reduce interest on deposits, relying on the possibility of attracting cheaper liquidity in the future, predicts Zvarich.
- The transition of banks to worsening conditions may lead to a shift in the interest of citizens in long-term deposits - they will try to fix attractive offers for a long time, - he does not exclude.
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