According to the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Olga Skorobogatova, the national digital currency will create the same conditions for all citizens and for business in terms of tariffs, transfer times and the absence of limits.
The Bank of Russia is developing its own digital currency to increase the availability and convenience of payment services, as well as reduce the cost of such services for citizens and businesses. Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, announced this in an interview with Kommersant. According to her, the digital ruble, along with cash and non-cash money, will become one of the settlement tools.
“A person himself will be able to choose which form of the ruble is more convenient for him to pay in certain circumstances. I would like to stress once again that all three forms of money will be in circulation, there will be no restrictions, ”Skorobogatova explained.
The Bank of Russia platform will provide the same conditions for all citizens and for business in terms of tariffs, transfer time and the absence of limits on the amounts that will be stored in their wallets, added the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank.
According to Skorobogatova, three-quarters of banking organizations have confirmed that the two-tier retail model of the digital ruble proposed by the regulator is the most rational and promising. It is small and medium-sized banks that see more opportunities for themselves in the digital ruble than disadvantages, Skorobogatova noted.
“They (small and medium-sized banks – topplabs.org) will finally have the opportunity to compete and offer their clients other services, and not just payments that are monopoly on certain market participants,” summed up the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank.
The digital ruble is an additional form of the Russian national currency to be issued by the Bank of Russia. It combines the properties of cash and non-cash rubles. Like non-cash money, the digital ruble makes remote payments and online settlements possible. On the other hand, like cash, it can be used offline – in the absence of Internet access.
The Bank of Russia plans to start testing the digital ruble in 2022. For this, a prototype of the new currency platform will be presented by the end of this year.