The system of infinitely limited payments – Newspaper Kommersant No. 214 (7415) dated 11/18/2022

The Bank of Russia is preparing for the mass launch of cross-border payments through the FPS. They are planned to be free only for recipients and foreign counterparties – Russian banks and their sending clients will pay a commission. However, credit institutions are skeptical about the prospects of the new service due to the cautious attitude of foreign partners towards Russian ones in the face of sanctions.

CB published tariffs for cross-border transfers through the Faster Payments System (FPS). According to them, for internal operations, the amount of free transfers is limited to 100 thousand rubles. per month (in excess of this amount, the bank can take a commission of 0.5%, but not more than 1,500 rubles). For cross-border transfers, transfers will be free only for the recipient of funds abroad and for a foreign bank. In this case, the sender’s bank will pay the Central Bank 6 rubles. for the transfer, and the tariff for individuals for the transfer will be determined independently. Tariffs will take effect from December 19, and, according to market participants, by this time banks will be ready to launch the service in “combat mode”.

First trial cross-border transfer via FPS took place back in early July. The client sent a transfer for 1 thousand rubles. from the Russian bank Hayes to the Kyrgyz MBANK (the provider was Tinkoff). The operation was carried out in rubles with conversion into the national currency on the side of the recipient bank. Tinkoff promised to expand the number of countries to which funds will be sent. But so far, cross-border transfers through the SBP remain piecemeal.

Nevertheless, according to a Kommersant source in the payment market, today three banks are ready to launch a cross-border transfer service, and about a dozen more banks plan to start testing it. As Tinkoff told Kommersant, they see demand for connection from banks from the EAEU countries – the service is in demand by residents of this region. Aleksey Khranilov, Head of the Transfers Department at VTB, said that VTB is completing testing of the SBP service for cross-border transfers. The bank “Russian Standard” “Kommersant” say that they are also working on the launch of cross-border transfers via FPS.

The head of the National Payment Council, Alma Obaeva, calls the service “relevant and quite feasible,” since the SBP is not under sanctions. “The whole point is to get away from the cards of international payment systems and establish settlements between citizens of countries through the FPS,” she says.

However, the project does not cause much excitement among market participants, a few foreign banks are connected to it, and after the sanctions attack on Mir, it is unlikely that their number will increase to connect to the SBP (NSPK – the operator of both systems). According to a Kommersant source among financiers, foreign banks ready to accept transfers via the SBP, “definitely less than a dozen and perhaps even less than five.” Another source noted that under the current conditions, it is “easier for both Russian and foreign banks to transfer money through correspondent accounts.”

The head of the board of the Financial Innovations Association, Roman Prokhorov, admits: “Of course, we should not forget about the sanctions risks of such a cross-border voyage of the SBP – quite recently we have already observed the implementation of these risks in relation to cards of the Mir payment system.” Dmitry Vishnyakov, an independent expert in the payment card market, agrees with him, who draws attention to the fact that banks participating in the FPS from other countries will be wary of this service, fearing possible secondary sanctions. “NSPK, the operator of the SBP, has already been mentioned as a potential target for such actions by Western governments,” he says.

The expert adds that the new service is intended primarily for citizens from the CIS countries who work in Russia and send money to their homeland, and this is “already a fairly highly competitive market.”

Maxim Builov, Ksenia Dementieva