Difficulties of quick transfers – Newspaper Kommersant No. 39 (7484) dated 03/09/2023

The National Payment Card System (NSPK) has set a tariff for transfers between corporate cards three times lower than for other transactions with Mir cards. According to experts, this service, which will be launched in April, can become a real competitor to classic transfers between legal entities by payment orders, which are less fast and convenient. A similar service in the Faster Payments System (FPS) is only being tested so far, and market participants expect that it can be fully operational only next year.

The National Payment Card System (NSPK) recently sent out an operational bulletin to banks with new tariffs for Mir cards, which will come into force on April 25. One of the most noticeable changes was the appearance in the document of a commission on transfers between corporate cards (B2B transfers) – a new service for the Mir payment system, which was announced last week in the NSPK technology bulletin.

The commission for B2B transfers is set three times lower than for other transactions with debit cards of the payment system – 0.01% versus 0.03% (for privileged Mir Supreme and Mir Ultra cards, the commission is 0.045%). As explained in the NSPK, the introduction of the tariff is primarily due to the need to expand the network for accepting B2B transfers by reducing the cost for the issuer. At the same time, the NSPK noted that in the SBP the B2B service is “at the stage of development”, and transfers using account details (on payment orders) may not be available to customers on holidays, weekends and after the end of the business day.

“If the commission is more profitable than for ordinary transfers, for example, when paying bills, the product has a chance of success,” says Dmitry Vishnyakov, an independent expert in the payment card market. In the case of card transfers, funds become available to the recipient almost immediately after they are sent, since the bank credits the account after receiving confirmation that the payment has been sent. With a classic transfer by bank details, the money becomes available no earlier than a day later, when it is actually credited to the account.

According to market participants, today corporate clients of banks have access to card-to-card transfers of international payment systems (MPS, see Kommersant dated February 28, 2022). But as noted by a Kommersant source in the payment market, the tariff for such operations is high, at the same level as for cash withdrawals. “MPS have never promoted transfers from card to card, it was important for them that the card was used to pay in the trading network,” Dmitry Vishnyakov noted.

A similar service is being tested in the Fast Payment System (FPS), but, according to a Kommersant source, large banks will only start offering it by the end of the year. Banks will be required to offer B2B card transfers to customers from April 25. The head of the National Payment Council, Alma Obayeva, believes that the SBP initially has an advantage, since it is an instant transfer, while money goes through cards longer. “Obviously, both methods significantly outperform classic transfers by payment orders, when you need to go to the client bank, enter all the details, then it all goes through the check,” she says.

Experts note that, in essence, the NSPK promotes two competitive services, each of which requires separate development and implementation costs. And taking into account low tariffs, the payback period will obviously stretch for a long time. The question of the security of such transfers remains open, when the funds are credited to the account of the counterparty rather quickly. If translations are safe, Alma Obaveva believes, “both maps and SBP can seriously compete with classical translations.”

Maxim Buylov