ATMs of the Kalashnikov system – Newspaper Kommersant No. 167 (7368) dated 09/12/2022
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The Central Bank presented a “road map” for the introduction of domestic ATMs to the market. According to it, the first samples will go to banks for testing this fall, and serial batches – in the first quarter of 2023. However, according to experts, a significant part of ATM components is not produced in the Russian Federation, so the devices will be produced on the basis of a screwdriver assembly and will be dependent on imported components.
As it became known to Kommersant, on September 9, a meeting of the Council on Cash Circulation (NDO) at the Bank of Russia was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Sergei Belov. The problems of import substitution in terms of the work of banks with cash were discussed. According to a Kommersant source, the council presented a roadmap for the creation and launch of domestic ATMs on the market.
According to the document, two Russian manufacturers – BFS and SAGA – will provide the largest banks with the first samples of their products for testing this fall. If it is successful, mass production of ATMs will begin, and in the first quarter of next year, banks will receive several hundred Russian devices.
As the Central Bank explained to Kommersant, the council includes participants in cash circulation. “On this platform, issues on the development of the NDO industry, including import substitution, are discussed, both domestic manufacturers and equipment buyers are involved in the dialogue,” the Bank of Russia explained. They clarified that the issues of the need for counting and sorting machines, ATMs, validators, as well as the formation of technical requirements for them were discussed.
With regard to ATMs, according to Alexei Voilukov, vice president of the Association of Banks of Russia, the council discussed schedules for work on a localized, import-substituting version – when and what stages will be implemented.
Mr. Voylukov is cautious in assessing the timing of entry into the market of domestic ATMs. “In the first half of 2023, the first versions will be worked out, piloted, and from the middle of the year it is quite possible to enter industrial production and offer domestic ATMs for all banks,” he says.
However, according to the expert, even after entering the market with serial batches of ATMs, their manufacturers will continue to work on their further localization, in stages for the next two years.
This is an important caveat, because, according to experts, it is technically impossible to create a completely domestic ATM, 100% localized in Russia. The source of Kommersant notes that it is realistic to make the case, the mechanical part of the ATM design in the country, but the electronic filling “for the most part is not produced in the Russian Federation and is unlikely to be soon.” So the first Russian ATMs, says Kommersant’s interlocutor, will most likely turn out to be similar to machines produced by the screwdriver assembly method – a domestic case with imported content to a greater or lesser degree of localization.
According to the head of the board of the Financial Innovations association Roman Prokhorov, the production of ATMs is a fairly high-tech industry, it will not be possible to ensure rapid import substitution in it, so you will have to use the existing import opportunities, including “parallel”. The creation of a truly domestic ATM is a horizon of not months, but years. “Until this moment, banks will be forced to use imported analogues or screwdriver assembly options,” he is sure. So, Sberbank already has a contract for the supply of ATMs from China, VTB is testing Chinese devices and, in case of successful completion of the pilot period, will massively introduce them before the end of the year.
Dmitry Vishnyakov, an independent expert in the payment card market, believes that there is no need to urgently build the Russian production of ATMs at all. “Cash withdrawal is a service that cardholders are using less and less,” he explains. The expert clarifies that multifunctional devices that can combine the function of issuing cash with many others and provide citizens with access to financial services from regions with a low level of penetration of the Internet and mobile communications will be more relevant for Russian banks.
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