Wealthy Russians save their dollars in a US bank

Citibank reported a record inflow of wealthy Russians in August and September, and this trend continued in October.
23.10.2018
Forbes
Origin source
As noted in the presentation of the bank, customers from the premium segment are characterized by a significant share of foreign currency in the portfolio.
In August and September, Citibank recorded a record influx of wealthy clients, Olga Vaksina, head of the segment of premium segments at Citigold and Citigold Private, told reporters during a briefing.

Growth was observed in the Citigold segment, which is intended for clients with checks ranging from $ 100,000 to $ 1 million. According to the bank’s presentation (Forbes has), Citigold’s customers have 73% of the portfolio in foreign currency, with most of the funds (52%) invested in those or other tools. About 36% of premium customers from this segment are made abroad.

Approximately 100 people came to the bank in August and 114 - September, although traditionally the monthly influx of customers is 60-70 people, says Vaksina. “The average check for new customers in August-September was $ 200,000. There were customers who brought in much more than $ 1 million. They opened an account and brought money just the next day,” Vaksina says. This trend continued in October - according to the banker, the volume of raising funds from premium customers is more than usual.

The bank has an indicator of funding at zero month: a new client can open an empty account without a commission and then study the terms of service for three months, become more familiar with banking services, communicate with the manager and think about how best to transfer money. Typically, funding for new accounts, that is, one-time transfer of money in Citibank is 10-15%. But in August and September, this figure was at the level of 36%. This means that 36% of new customers immediately transferred their funds to new accounts.

“It’s difficult to make an unequivocal conclusion as to why this is happening. There is a feeling in the market that people have become more afraid for their money. They come to us as if in a safe haven, ”explains Vaksina.

In August and September, against the backdrop of the threat of US sanctions against Russian state-owned banks and statements by government officials about the de-dollarization of the economy, outflow of foreign currency deposits from the banking system was recorded. As reported by RBC, as of September 1, the total volume of foreign currency accounts of Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank customers decreased by $ 7.4 billion.

In early October, Raiffeisenbank issued a review in which bank analysts also noted an outflow of currency from state banks in August. According to their estimates, individual customers took away about $ 2 billion from Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank and banks to reorganize them into FSCS, and companies - $ 6.3 billion.

At the same time, some private banks (mainly “daughters” of foreign players), on the contrary, experienced an influx of funds, but to a much smaller extent than was withdrawn from state banks, the survey noted. The inflow of funds of legal entities in Raiffeisenbank amounted to about $ 700 million, in Rosbank - less than $ 500 million.

During the briefing on October 9, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Vasily Pozdyshev stated that the Central Bank does not see the flow of foreign currency deposits from state banks to private credit organizations. “We observed precisely the withdrawal of deposits and the filling of banking cells in August,” Pozdyshev emphasized.

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