Sochi, 19 October, news.ru: Speedy payment system rates are to become flexible for banks. The news was announced by Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Olga Skorobogatova, who was speaking on the sidelines of the Finopolis Forum 2018.

“We are examining the option of introducing rates of under RUB 6 under certain circumstances, for smaller payments,” she said. Should a payment not exceed RUB 500 or RUB 1,000, for example, then the transfer commission may come in at under RUB 6, Skorobogatova explained.

What’s more, this commission will be shared equally between the sender’s and recipient’s banks. “That works out at RUB 3 per bank. If we set the rate for small amounts lower, as we plan to do – say, to RUB 3, then the rate for each bank will be RUB 1.5,” she said.

The idea is that the speedy payment system will receive the commission, but from both banks equally. Skorobogatova had earlier said that testing for the speedy payments system will begin in November. Several banks will be participating in the pilot programme. According to News.ru sources with inside information on the project, these will include Alfa Bank, Gazprombank, Tinkoff Bank, QIWI Bank, Ak Bars Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, Sovcombank, and a number of others.

The Central Bank is planning for the system to be fully rolled out in January 2019. It will enable individuals to transfer money to one another, simply by using a mobile phone number or email address.