The Moscow authorities have begun testing metro fares payment using digital ruble via a QR code. The test is being held jointly with the Central Bank and VTB behind closed doors, the capital’s department of transport said.
AMarkets lead analyst Igor Rastorguev explained the features of the new financial instrument, which has not yet been introduced in Russia. Digital rubles will be stored on digital wallets (the so-called digital ruble accounts). Access to the digital wallet can be obtained in the usual way – in the mobile application of your bank or on the Internet page in the bank’s personal account.
“Unlike transactions with non-cash funds, transactions with a digital ruble will not be subject to any commissions from a particular bank. All transfer operations will be free, the expert emphasizes. “This is explained by the fact that the digital wallet is not tied to a specific bank (it just provides a service for accessing it), in fact it is on the platform of the Central Bank.”
For the same reason, one person can have only one digital wallet, the analyst continues. You can put money in this wallet from your account (the exchange will be carried out in a 1:1 ratio). In the same way, it will be possible to carry out the reverse operation – transferring it to an account and withdrawing it from an ATM if necessary.
“To pay with digital rubles, it is not necessary to transfer funds to a traditional account. It is enough to read the QR code, choose a digital ruble as the means of payment andconfirm the payment, ” Igor Rastorguev explains.