Half of Czechs keep financial savings at home, says new survey

Around half of Czechs keep financial savings at home, according to the results of a new survey conducted by NMS Research and published by Raiffeisenbank. A total of 48 percent of those surveyed reported storing cash in their residence.

Most households surveyed kept between two and ten thousand crowns at home, with the average amount of savings running to about five thousand crowns.

"We understand that having several thousand at home for a rainy day can be useful, but at a time when money in current and savings accounts is available immediately and inflation is high, this money is devalued," Raiffeisenbank's spokesperson Petra Kopecká stated in a press release.

Most respondents (62 percent) said they keep less than 10,000 crowns at home. About a fifth (19 percent) said they keep 10,000-20,000 crowns at home, and 12 percent said they have between 20,000-50,000 crowns in cash at their home.

Eight percent of those surveyed admitted to keeping more than 50,000 crowns in cash at home.

Where do they store the money? A third of the respondents declined to answer.

The most common storage location for cash kept at home was in a drawer, utilized by nineteen percent of those surveyed. Using a safe (seventeen percent) was also popular.

Wardrobes and bookcases were also common hiding places, and some respondents got more creative. Storing money behind a painting, under a rug, and inside of a bed were also answers given.

The survey was conducted by NMS Research in August 2021 on a total of 10,031 respondents in the Czech Republic aged 18-65.