The Bank of Russia has announced that all 13 banks intending to participate in the digital ruble pilot have already completed their preparations to join the upcoming test. Olga Skorobogatova, first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, stated that customers of these banks will be able to apply to join the pilot “after some time.”
Bank of Russia Digital Ruble Test Will Include 13 Banks
The Bank of Russia is completing preparations for the upcoming digital ruble pilot test that will start on August 15. The bank recently announced that all banks that expressed their desire to be part of this test have already confirmed their participation in the pilot, making technical arrangements specifically directed for this test.
According to the Russian state news agency Tass, the first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova, stated:
13 banks completed all the preparatory activities as regards technical preparations and development of their own mobile apps and ready to start transactions with real clients together with us.
The level of involvement of banks in this pilot was revealed earlier by the chairman of the board of Ingosstrakh Bank, Stanislav Danysh, who explained that the participating banks would allow users and corporations to transact using the digital ruble. However, the first phase, he stated, would be limited, only including bank partners and employees.
Retail Users’ Involvement Confirmed
While Skorobogatova did not offer a time frame for the activities of the pilot test, she did explain that customers of the banks would be able to participate directly in the pilot.
Skorobogatova declared:
Retail clients of banks participating in the pilot project will be able after some time to submit applications for digital ruble testing in real transactions.
Other banks not participating in the test this year are expected to be part of the pilot test. Skorobogatova revealed that sixteen more banks will be part of the digital ruble test network next year.
In July, the Bank of Russia also considered integrating the digital ruble network with other digital currencies to interconnect different payment systems. This would allow the bank to harness the digital ruble as a cross-border payment currency. At the time, the governor of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, stated that several ways for reaching this integration were being discussed with friendly countries.
What do you think about the progress of the digital ruble project and its banking integration? Tell us in the comments section below.
