Russia’s central bank discusses digital ruble with major Russian banks

The Bank of Russia held a meeting with representatives of the country’s largest banks, including Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Moscow Credit Bank, Russian Standard Bank and others. It concerned the discussion of a possible rollout of the digital ruble, according to «Ъ».

According to one participant, there is no clear sense among banks of the need to launch the digital ruble, and they expected to hear ‘more specifics’ from the regulator, while the proposed option to make a new asset the third form of the ruble is not taken seriously by the majority of banks.

According to the publication, at the meeting bankers debated whether the digital ruble would become an alternative to cash or to non-cash funds.

Representatives of banks also discussed the features of working with the central bank’s digital currency, if it is issued.

“We support a model in which the service component can be implemented by banks, as they currently have sufficient infrastructure to sustain it,” said Alexander Samokhvalov, chairman of the board of Russian Standard Bank.

He emphasised that a scheme involving banks would prevent liquidity outflows and preserve the ability for customers to use a familiar interface.

Alexey Okhorzin, head of the Retail and Electronic Business Development Directorate at Moscow Credit Bank, called the release of the digital ruble a real imperative of the moment, RBC reports.

Olga Makhova, Director of Innovation at Rosbank, noted the advantages of the digital ruble, including lower transaction costs, convenience and the development of smart contracts as a tool contributing to increased transparency in the relationship between consumers and suppliers.

Boris Kim, CEO of the QIWI Group, also present at the meeting, said that the company fully supports the central bank’s efforts to digitize the financial sector.

According to him, the digital ruble could become a reliable way to store funds, be used for settlements with state and local authorities, as well as for payments to the population and to enterprises.

Kim believes that an advantage of the digital ruble over other forms of payments could be its use by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs to make offline payments without the cash limits applied to cash settlements.

Earlier this month, the regulator already held a meeting with representatives of the largest payment systems currently operating in Russia, also devoted to the digital ruble.

Such a series of meetings with representatives from various sectors is conducted as part of public consultations provided for by a report by the Bank of Russia on the digital ruble.

The results of the discussion of the report will be announced in the first quarter of next year.

As noted, if the digital ruble project is approved, will be tested by commercial banks.

The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina noted that the digital ruble could affect banks’ business models.

For more on how the regulator envisions its own digital currency, read ForkLog’s exclusive.

Accessibility and traceability: how the Bank of Russia sees the digital ruble

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