They want to raise the limit for electronic wallets to a million

What does this have to do with the ruble exchange rate and increased control over the movement of citizens’ funds, experts said

Russians who have passed identification can increase the limits on the balance of money in electronic wallets and the maximum amount of transferring funds from them by 40% at once – from 600 thousand rubles, currently set as the upper limit for these transactions of individuals, to 1 million rubles . Market participants approached the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring with such an initiative. According to them, the previous restriction is outdated and hinders the development of the electronic money market (EMF). Why the desire to change the limits in this segment appeared right now and will most likely be supported by the regulator, MK found out from experts.

It is interesting that this innovation brings together the functionality of electronic wallets and the ability to transfer an individual’s bank account. The maximum amount for storing funds on an electronic wallet was established in 2014. Today, a citizen can leave no more than 600 thousand rubles there and transfer the same amount if the need arises. According to the initiators of the change in the limit, since the adoption of this norm, inflation has amounted to about 90%, not to mention the increase in the ruble exchange rate. Obviously, this was one of the reasons that prompted market participants to turn to regulators. “The figure of 600 thousand rubles was introduced many years ago, when the dollar exchange rate was almost 30 rubles,” notes Sergei Mendeleev, head of InDeFi Smart Bank. “It’s absolutely clear that it was high time to raise it, and not only in the area of ​​payments.”

The change in internal requirements for transfers from electronic wallets in Russia has nothing to do with an attempt to circumvent sanctions, the expert adds. “Wallets in the NPS ecosystem (National Payment System – editor’s note) are absolutely not friendly with their Western counterparts and, in fact, there have been no options for transactions between them over the past year and a half, and those that exist work through crypto with horse commissions,” the expert adds. “So why use unnecessary intermediaries if you can pay everything directly in stablecoins pegged to the dollar?” And for all ordinary transfers, there are online services of large banks with much larger limits on premium cards, so these electronic wallets are nothing more than a pre-crypto atavism that will soon sink into oblivion after disk drives and typewriters. “Personally, I don’t remember the last time I used such payment mechanisms, definitely more than 10 years ago,” the analyst concluded.

The Bank of Russia, meanwhile, found the initiative of market participants interesting. According to the regulator, it can help increase the attractiveness of e-money transfer services for individuals. Rosfinmonitoring assures that they also have nothing against this proposal. Other experts drew attention to this unanimity among regulators and drew conclusions. “The Central Bank wants to make transfers absolutely transparent for itself, in order to fully understand to whom, who is transferring funds and for what, and, as usual, it is first important to provide more convenient conditions so that the population switches to a new type of transfers without commissions through electronic wallets,” – says investment advisor Yulia Kuznetsova. This is the measure that the regulator advocates for total financial control, first in the form of observations of the clients of these payment services and the population as a whole. According to the expert, there are no significant risks here. “Only if there is a lot of money in a citizen’s wallet, and his salary, for example, is low, then later, I think, the regulator will introduce a procedure for confirming the availability of funds in client accounts,” Kuznetsova suggested. But for now we need to wait for the official order to increase the limit on the balance of funds and transfer up to a million rubles on electronic wallets.