The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine has recorded the beginning of a systemic crisis in the Russian banking services market, which will lead to a sharp restriction of loyalty programs in 2026. After a multi-year period of increasing payments, which reached 400 billion rubles in 2024, Russian credit organizations are forced to abandon aggressive competition for customers. This is reported by UNN.
Details
In recent years, Russian banks have actively increased cashback volumes: if in 2019 payments amounted to 99 billion rubles, by 2021 they grew to 141 billion. However, industry representatives admit that further customer stimulation using this model is becoming economically inefficient and unprofitable.
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In 2026, stricter requirements for receiving bonuses, a reduction in the percentage of cashback for purchases, and a complete cancellation of privileges for many categories of goods are expected to be introduced.
Consequences of the economic downturn for the financial sector
2026 could be a turning point for the loyalty program market in Russia: the period of generous cashback rewards is gradually coming to an end, and banks are moving to more restrained models of customer stimulation amid the economic downturn.
The change in the strategy of Russian banks indicates a deep transformation of the market, where the period of easy money and excessive incentives is a thing of the past. Banks are moving to the most restrained operating models, trying to maintain liquidity in conditions of an unstable national currency and limited access to external capital markets.
For ordinary Russians, this will mean an increase in the cost of account maintenance and the actual disappearance of additional income from using bank cards.