The Russian banks MTS and PSB have begun testing the digital ruble, with “entrepreneurs” using the CBDC to pay for “services.”
The nation’s Central Bank has fast-tracked its CBDC project in recent weeks, and is eyeing a 2025-2027 national rollout.
The banks, along with the likes of VTB Bank, say that their customers and employees have carried out “real-world” transactions with the coin after advanced pilots began last week.
Per Content-Review, MTS’s payment technology chief Igor Chuchkin said the bank was “delighted to be among the first Russian banks to participate in the digital ruble pilot.”
Chuchkin said:
“We plan to look into more digital ruble-related offerings that we can offer our customers in the future, and we will base these on our initial experiences during the pilot.”
Meanwhile, PSB (full name: Promsvyazbank), gave details of one of the “real-world” digital ruble transactions carried out on its platform.
Per the media outlet Argumenti i Facti, PSB this week enabled one of its clients to “open a digital wallet” and use an app-generated QR code to “successfully make a payment for services.”
The bank said the client was an entrepreneur who “works in the field of online education.”
The media outlet added:
“The entrepreneur was also able to exchange digital rubles for [conventional] rubles and vice versa via the PSB mobile app, and carried out a B2C (business-to-customer) transaction in digital rubles.”
Transaction fees using the digital ruble have been set at 0.3%, although P2P transactions can be made free of charge, the Central Bank has stated.
Some 11 other Russian banks are also testing the CBDC with a select group of their clients in almost a dozen cities nationwide.
The Central Bank says that 16 other banks, including
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