The phenomena of financial behavior of Russians (on the example of clients of Sberbank of Russia)

Abstract

The article examines the financial behavior of Russian customers of Sberbank of Russia. As an information base of the study, we use aggregated open data on the behavior of the Bank’s customers in all regions of Russia.The author characterizes the key trends of financial behavior of Russians, pointing to the growth of the tendency to saving.The article describes two models of financial behavior of the Bank’s customers. In the first, citizens are focused on the widespread use of credit funds, regardless of their own income. The second involves a more rational attitude to finance and is determined by the size of the average wage. The article concludes about the low financial literacy of Russians, which is manifested in the use of such inefficient financial instruments as bank deposit for savings and investments. The author points out that only a small part of Russians have formulated a financial strategy, a comprehensive plan of personal investments using a wide range of tools such as individual investment account, mutual funds, stock and bond markets.At the end of the article, some aspects of regional specifics of financial behavior are considered. Subjects of the Russian Federation are analyzed through the prism of the volume of bank deposits, expenses on plastic bank cards, the volume and number of mortgage and consumer loans.