May 19, 2015. The number of Russians who trust the national banking system has dropped from 74% down to 56% in the last year, the findings of a research conducted by the National Agency for Financial Studies (NAFI) indicate.

This figure is a four-year low: in 2012, 64% of Russians trusted their banks, while in 2013 and 2014, the figures stood at 78% and 74%, respectively. Nevertheless, lending institutions are still at the top of trust ratings.

Insurance companies are in the second place: 35% of respondents are confident about using their services (compared with 38% a year earlier). 19% of those surveyed trust non-state retirement funds: this figure hasn’t changed in the last four years. 16% of respondents are optimistic about investment companies (compared with 19% in 2014). Micro-lending businesses are in the last place: only 8% of Russians trust them, and their trust is growing increasingly weaker: in 2012, the figure was 14%, in 2013, it was 13%, and in 2014, it was 11%.