At MTS, payment with digital rubles will become available for all services integrated with the MTS Pay payment module. There will be no restrictions by category of goods or services, and the process itself will be similar to conducting transactions through the Faster Payments System, company representatives said.
Rostelecom is carrying out technical refinements to the platform with the participation of 'one of the largest banks', whose name it is not disclosing. Initially, the digital ruble can be used for one-time payments on the operator's official website, with the functionality promised to be later extended to the customer's personal account. Support for recurring payments and automatic account top-ups will appear as the Bank of Russia's digital ruble platform becomes ready, Rostelecom assured.
Megafon is also preparing to use the digital ruble – as an additional payment method. Representatives of VimpelCom (brand Beeline) declined to comment.
The two largest Russian marketplaces, Wildberries and Ozon, also announced recently that they plan to start accepting digital ruble payments from September 1st. From this date, all major Russian businesses are required by law to be able to process transactions with the third form of the national currency. Applications of all so-called systemically important banks in Russia – there are 12 of them, including Sber, T-Bank, VTB, Alfa-Bank – must feature a button with the digital ruble logo. Clicking the button can open a wallet for the central bank's digital currency (CBDC).
At the same time, the Central Bank intends to introduce a limit on top-ups to the digital wallet – no more than 300,000 rubles through one bank per month.
