Russians may have quickly developed a taste for capitalist essentials, such as cars and designer clothes, but credit cards seem to be taking a while longer to get established. Out of 103 million financial cards in circulation, only 12 million are credit cards and many holders use them like debit cards to get cash out of ATMs rather than buying goods in shops.
Russia remains a predominantly cash society and outside of the big cities, such as Moscow and St Petersburg, merchants have resisted accepting cards. But this is changing due to tighter legislation and big promotional activities by the card operators and the banks.
