Most Russians are ready to communicate with robots in bank branches

Almost 80% of Russians would use the help of a humanoid robot in a bank branch, while 29% of citizens would do it without hesitation. However, almost a quarter of Russians want to communicate only with live employees, a VTB survey conducted by SPIEF 2026 showed.

The degree of consent to communicate with robots in banks is especially high when it comes to routine operations, VTB emphasized. Thus, 74% of Russians are ready to receive information about deposit conditions from the robot, 57% are ready to open an account or card, and 61% are ready to report fraud. At the same time, only a third of Russians (34%) would trust a robot to arrange a loan or mortgage, while 47% would settle complaints and disputes.

The main expectations of Russians from banking robots are competence, speed and accuracy. More than half (54%) of Russians believe that a robot will handle customer service better than a human, especially in standard scenarios. At the same time, 41% believe that robots are effective only in solving simple tasks, and 30% are confident that a live employee will always be out of competition.

The main concerns related to the possible robotization of the banking service system are technical failures, the inability to solve an unusual situation, leakage of personal data, and loss of jobs by live employees. However, 52% of Russians believe that trust in the bank will not change with the advent of robots, 14% of the survey participants will even increase their trust, 22% will decrease slightly, and 12% will significantly decrease.

"We are on the threshold of a new phase of digitalization of banking services. Russians are already ready to be serviced by humanoid robots. However, banks should implement them wisely," said Vadim Kulik, Deputy President and Chairman of the VTB Management Board. He drew a parallel with the use of artificial intelligence. "It is necessary not to replace people completely, but to create a hybrid model where robots will take over the routine, and employees will take on more complex, creative and individual tasks," the expert believes.