Suspicious Transactions in Russia Decline by 19% in 2025

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Suspicious financial transactions in Russia decreased by 19% in 2025, according to data from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). The total volume of suspicious operations fell from 90 billion rubles to 72.6 billion rubles.

The most significant reduction was seen in illegal cash withdrawals, which decreased by a quarter to 48.3 billion rubles across all economic sectors.

In the banking sector, the decline was even more pronounced at 28%. This was primarily due to a sharp reduction in two common schemes. Transactions involving corporate and business bank cards dropped by almost half, while so-called "scatter transfers" to individual accounts from companies with no genuine business activity decreased by 24%.

Operations with signs of money laundering abroad also continued to decline. In 2025, their volume was 5% lower than the previous year, amounting to 24.3 billion rubles.

The reduction in suspicious transactions was largely the result of closer cooperation between the regulator and banks, as well as the work of the "Know Your Customer" platform. The accuracy of risk assessment is confirmed by the fact that the share of clients rehabilitated by the interdepartmental commission remains minimal - around 0.3% of clients with a high risk level. According to the platform, more than 97% of companies and individual entrepreneurs fall into the low-risk category.

An additional effect came from the intensified fight against the use of straw men, known as "drops," through whom illegal structures, including anonymous crypto exchanges and online casinos, conduct transactions with citizens. Banks began detecting such operations almost in real-time, including through the use of artificial intelligence technologies.

As a result, the active usage period of drop cards has sharply decreased. While such cards used to be operational for over a month, they are now typically blocked within a day. The average transaction volume has also significantly decreased - from 1-3 million rubles to 100-150 thousand rubles, and the total volume of suspicious transactions on drop accounts in the banking sector has decreased several times over.