We are in a pre-digital era.

Just a few decades ago, financial services were very different: without the internet, without cards and technologies we are so familiar with today. We have been transported to an average flat of those times. Take a look around: what do you see? Do all the objects around you seem familiar? If not, try to guess what they were meant/made for.

Now it seems strange to us, but not so long ago it was impossible to imagine life without cash.

•

•

•

To better immerse yourself in the atmosphere, watch bank adverts of the time, see what services were offered, and watch clips from Soviet cinema.

Now what we can even do without cards - everything we need is in our phones. But a while ago there were no smartphones or cards. You could only pay in cash for groceries in a shop or at a vending machine. Yes, indeed, they have been around for quite some time.

These machines worked with glass. The reusable cup could be washed: it was turned upside down and placed on a special grate. Then you pressed down on the cup, and a stream of water came from under the grate.

•

•

•

Imagine the modern vending machine: we choose the product we want, for example - a chocolate bar, push a button, swipe a card and.. (pause) the chocolate bar is in your hand.

•

And now look at a fizzy water machine from the past.

For one kopeck you could buy a glass of just water and for three you could get one with syrup.

Help yourself!

Today we have access not only to card payments in shops, but also to remote payment, as a large number of purchases are made online. This includes ad websites.

•

•

Before the development of digital technology, ads were published in newspapers or posted on special boards. Like this one. It could be anything: buying, selling, exchanging. You paid in cash, of course. And, of course, it was out of the question to get something that someone decided to sell in Vladivostok to Moscow in a matter of days.

Previously, the fare was collected by conductors. Later, passengers would drop coins into ticket machines and tear off their own tickets. At the same time composters make an appearance. You could buy a roll or a booklet of tickets for 10 trips from the driver or at a kiosk of SoyuzPrint, and during the journey tear off one of them and compost (validate) it, i.e. punch it through on the composter. Each machine punched out a different combination of dots. The conductor punched his ticket for clarity and then compared the position and number of dots on the tickets of all passengers.

You could also get your ticket from the conductor.

•

•

•

People travelled home with their shiny new things via public transport. Let's see how the fare payments have changed in the meantime. Let’s get on the bus.

On the TV in the flat you bank advertisements of that time, and now in front of you is a pre-digital office of an insurance company and a bank rolled into one - a savings bank.

There used to be no instant transfers like there are now. To transfer money, you had to go to the bank or send money by post, having filled out special forms.

•

•

Getting a loan or making a deposit in a matter of minutes was also challenging. Just imagine how long it took to get to the bank, stand in the queues and then collect and fill in all the necessary paperwork!

•

Are you familiar with the term “savings book”? Such booklets were issued to everyone who opened a savings account at a savings bank. These documents essentially reflected the account’s history.

•