# More Russians now pick cash over bank deposits for savings as cross-border transfers draw tougher penalties

A Latvian court sentenced an activist to six years in prison for sending 43 euros to Russia, and the speaker of Russia's lower house called moving money abroad an aggravating factor in crime.

- Published: 2026-10-08T05:19:03.136Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-10-08/more-russians-now-pick-cash-over-bank-deposits-for-savings-a
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: macro
- Sources: [Polylog editors](https://polylog.news), [RIA Novosti](https://ria.ru/20261008/volodin-2123083482.html), [Kommersant](https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/9008715), [Novaya Gazeta Europe](https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/08/27/bolshe-poloviny-bankov-stolknulis-s-ottokom-vkladov-rossiiane-vse-chashche-predpochitaiut-khranit-dengi-nalichnymi-news)

In September, 38% of Russians named cash as the best way to keep their savings, compared with 37% who chose banks, the Russian financial Telegram channel [Bankrollo reported](https://t.me/bankrollo/67825). Respondents said cash gives them direct access to their money and protects them from account blocks. The shift was already under way in August. A survey by the Public Opinion Foundation, a Russian polling group, found 37% preferred cash that month, the highest share since October 2022. Only 36% chose bank accounts and deposits, the lowest since December 2022, [Novaya Gazeta Europe reported](https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/08/27/bolshe-poloviny-bankov-stolknulis-s-ottokom-vkladov-rossiiane-vse-chashche-predpochitaiut-khranit-dengi-nalichnymi-news). The same report said more than half of Russian banks had recorded deposit outflows.

The state is making it harder to move money out. Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, Russia's lower house, called the transfer of money abroad an aggravating circumstance, [RIA Novosti reported](https://ria.ru/20261008/volodin-2123083482.html) on Thursday. In Russian law, an aggravating circumstance increases the sentence for a crime. The state agency's headline did not say whether a bill has been filed.

Penalties are also rising on the other side of the border. A court in Riga sentenced Polina Kamlyova, an activist from the Latvian town of Rezekne, to six years in prison, [Kommersant reported](https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/9008715). She had transferred 43 euros to a Russian account to buy a device that suppresses drones. Kommersant, a Russian business daily, emphasized the small size of the sum in its coverage. The ruling, as reported, rested on what the money was for.

## What this means

When savers withdraw cash, Russian banks lose cheap deposits and have to pay more for funding. The Russian state is treating money leaving the country as a security matter. Latvia, a member of both the European Union and NATO, is applying the same logic in the other direction and criminalizing even small transfers into Russia. People who hold accounts or family ties on both sides face legal risk from either government for ordinary payments. The scale of this year's cash preference is new. Savers in Russia expect deposit restrictions before any are announced, which is why cash demand rises ahead of policy. The precedent is the 1990s, when Russian households kept savings in cash and dollars outside banks after the 1991 deposit freeze and the 1998 default, and it took the banking system a decade to regain those deposits. The desk's read is that within months more Russian proposals will appear to raise penalties on moving capital abroad, and EU border states will bring more prosecutions over small transfers. Both trends would raise the cost of keeping money in either jurisdiction for anyone with ties to both. If the Duma does not act on Volodin's statement and the share of Russians preferring cash falls back below the share choosing banks, this read is wrong.

## What to watch

- Whether a bill making capital transfer abroad an aggravating factor is formally introduced in the State Duma. That would turn a speaker's statement into legal exposure for anyone holding assets outside Russia.
- The Public Opinion Foundation's October savings survey. A third month with cash ahead of banks would show a sustained loss of trust and not a one-month swing.
- Further Baltic prosecutions over small payments to Russia. More cases would show the Latvian sentence reflects policy and not a single court's view.