Mikhail I. Rodnov

Doctor of Science (History), Leading Researcher of the Department of History and History of Culture of Bashkortostan, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Institute of History, Language and Literature – Subdivision of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences

(Ufa, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2021-3-19

Abstract. The article looks into the appearance of the cashless payments in the Russian province of the second half of the 19th century. In the 1860 – 1870s in the practice of the banks of the Russian Empire, both state and private ones, payments by chequebooks became widespread. The clients who opened so-called current accounts received them. In this case, the bank performed the functions of the client's accounting, as it happens now in modern payment systems using plastic cards or via the Internet using programs in smartphones. In the 19th century, a cheque became the world's first mass practice of cashless payments, available not only to entrepreneurs, but also to ordinary customers. Cheques were issued to bearer; they were valid for a week. The bearer could make any payments and transfers throughout the Empire, credit receipts and pay taxes. In one of the largest private banks in Russia, the Volzhsko-Kamsky Commercial Bank, current accounts and chequebook payments have become the largest function in terms of capital turnover. It is no coincidence that this bank is called the “deposit giant” in scientific literature. In 1873, a branch of the Volzhsko-Kamsky Bank was opened in Ufa, and local merchants immediately began to open current accounts and receive chequebooks. The article analyzes the composition of chequebook owners in the first full year of operation of the Ufa branch, in 1874. Large and medium-sized entrepreneurs showed the main interest in chequebooks. Chequebook relieved them of the need to have much cash, use IOUs, and also ensured quick settlements with partners from other cities. However, even the officials, the "middle class", were interested in chequebooks. The mass practice of cashless payments in the first year of operation of the Ufa branch of the Volzhsko-Kamsky Bank confirms the formation of the all-Russian financial market.
Keywords: economic history, banks, finance, entrepreneurship, Ufa, South Urals, cashless payments.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Rodnov, MI 2021, ‘With a cheque book in the pocket (the ufimsk department of volzhsko-kamsky bank’s client base that used cheque books on their current accounts in 1874)’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 3 (7), pp. 19–34, https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2021-3-19 (in Russ.)

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