Russian banking sector concerned CBDC entry cost too high for small lenders: report

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As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen interest in the digital economy, I find the Bank of Russia’s initiative to introduce the digital ruble by 2027 intriguing yet challenging for smaller Russian banks. Having navigated through multiple tech upgrades and integrations in my own investment journey, I can empathize with their predicament.

Specialists caution that the significant cost associated with participating in the digital ruble system might be too steep for smaller Russian banks, considering this expense outweighs their yearly technology budgets multiple times over.

It seems that the fee required for smaller Russian banks to participate in the Bank of Russia’s central bank digital currency platform is notably expensive, surpassing their yearly technology spending allocations, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant, quoting local banking sector sources.

According to the estimates provided, the cost for upgrading their systems, which encompasses advanced banking and regulatory software, falls between approximately 120 million to 200 million rubles (equivalent to $1.3 million to $2.2 million). A source knowledgeable about the matter explains that one challenge faced by smaller banks is that their digital banking systems are typically sourced from various providers, making integration a complex task.

By 2027, the Bank of Russia intends to make digital ruble services available across all banks, with systemically important institutions starting in 2025. The regulator feels confident that this timeline is reasonable for banks to adopt the digital ruble, as they’ve observed several major banks already testing operations in a pilot phase.

By early September, it was announced on crypto.news that Russia’s leading bank, Sberbank, intends to launch digital ruble services for their clients as early as 2025.

Back in December 2021, the Bank of Russia rolled out a prototype for the digital ruble. Testing started in 2022, and by August 2023, representatives from 13 Russian banks, both clients and staff, were involved in trial transactions. In September, the central bank broadened the pilot project to accommodate up to 9,000 individuals and 1,200 businesses, a significant increase from the initial 600 individuals and 22 companies.

By the year 2025, Russia’s central bank plans to make its digital ruble more widely accessible, starting from July 2025. The bank emphasized that the digital ruble serves as a supplement to, rather than a substitute for, current cash and non-cash rubles in circulation. China, a significant influence on Russia’s digital currency ventures, has already started distributing state salaries using its central bank digital currency, or CBDC, known as the digital yuan, in an effort to increase the use of their state-regulated currency.

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2024-10-23 14:01