Banks assessed how the expenses of Russians abroad have changed

Large banks surveyed by RBC assessed the spending of their clients abroad in July 2021 after the lifting of restrictions on flights to countries popular with Russians, primarily to Turkey. The volume of card payments increased compared to last year, but not everyone returned to the level of 2019, representatives of credit organizations said.

Thus, according to VTB, from June 22 (since the resumption of flights with Turkey) to July 20, foreign expenses of bank customers increased by 36% compared to the previous month, to 2.4 billion rubles. From June 22 to July 25, Russian Standard clients spent 71% more money abroad than in the same period last year, but 45% less than the pre-pandemic 2019 year. The average check of transactions with Russian Standard cards abroad for the period under review amounted to 12,088 rubles: in 2020 it amounted to 11,616 rubles, in 2019 - 7,856 rubles.

The ICD records the wave-like dynamics of changes in the number of transactions and the amount of spending by clients on trips abroad. From June to July 2021, spending increased by 30% and the number of transactions more than doubled compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the indicators for spending and the number of transactions in the current year are 21 and 38% less than the indicators for the same period in 2019, respectively.

According to Gazprombank, from June 22 to July 20, the volume of payments in foreign currency increased by 185% compared to the same period in 2020, the number of transactions - by 167%. However, compared to 2019, these figures are 19% and 8% lower, respectively.

Other major banks did not respond to inquiries.