Money to the point: it will be possible to deposit cash at any ATM through the SBP
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is preparing to launch a new option in the fast payment system in the near future, which will allow depositing cash to an account through ATMs of any credit institutions, said Alla Bakina, director of the Department of the National payment system of the Bank of Russia. Izvestia investigated the prospects for further development of the SBP after the launch of this feature and which services may appear next.
Additional options
The launch of replenishment of accounts through any ATM will simplify access to financial services, reduce the burden on bank branches and support the growth of non-cash payments, the share of which is projected to exceed 90% by 2030, Egor Diashov, chairman of the Financial Markets Commission of the IGO OPORA RUSSIA, noted in an interview with Izvestia. At the same time, banks will actively develop digital services and products, including for businesses, reducing settlement costs and increasing the overall efficiency of the financial system.
The Bank of Russia is systematically developing the fast payment system, supplementing it with new features in response to changing user requests and relying on modern technological solutions, Evgenia Lazareva, project manager of the Popular Front For Borrowers' Rights, coordinator of the Moshelovka platform, told Izvestia. The active use of QR codes and tokenization mechanisms makes payments faster, easier and more convenient for customers.
— Of course, there is a risk that fraudsters will use the tokenized card scheme more intensively, — the expert believes. — However, according to our information, the regulator takes this risk into account. It is planned to introduce artificial intelligence and machine learning, which will allow banks to distinguish ordinary transfers from suspicious ones by a variety of parameters, from the time and place of the operation to the communication between the participants in the transaction.
Pilot testing of CPQR technology, a client QR code, is currently underway, she recalled. It allows you to pay for goods and services through the SBP: the buyer generates a one-time QR code in advance in his bank's mobile application and presents it at the checkout, where the code is scanned by the seller. After that, the funds are debited from the client's account and credited to the seller through the quick payment system.
— It is expected that this technology will increase the security of the transaction and reduce queues due to the fact that buyers can open the code on their smartphone in advance and pay without a hitch. The launch of this tool for customers is scheduled for 2026," said Evgenia Lazareva.
Also in July, a law was signed on the phased launch of the digital ruble and the introduction of a universal QR code for payments, the expert recalled. Starting from September 1, 2026, customers of systemically important banks will be able to pay for purchases in digital rubles, primarily in companies with annual revenue of 120 million rubles or more.
A year later, this functionality will be available for businesses with a turnover of 30 million rubles or more, and from September 1, 2028, for all other market participants. Banks connected to the platform will be required to provide customers with special QR codes for making such payments.
— Another promising area of SBP development is the spread of cross—border transfers. Integration with other systems, such as international payment systems, will allow consumers to access a wider range of services. However, this area requires careful testing within the country and the introduction of appropriate regulatory changes.
The ability to deposit money into your own account through an ATM using an ATM, in fact, expands the existing functionality of the system, Pavel Zholobov, senior director of financial institutions ratings at the NRA rating service, told Izvestia. It gives customers a chance to replenish their balance on other banks' devices without additional fees and to dispense with a plastic card, which can be useful in certain life situations. However, it is probably not worth expecting widespread and regular demand for this service from users.
At the same time, the development of new solutions within the SBP is aimed at both improving customer convenience and strengthening fraud protection, he noted.
"Over time, client QR codes will also be used for transfers between individuals," the expert said. — The launch of such a solution is scheduled for 2026, and around the same period, the start of mass circulation of the digital ruble is predicted. In these circumstances, the further development of SBP services is likely to be initially built with an eye on the integration of digital currency.
Further development
The declining role of plastic cards as the main payment medium against the background of the active introduction of new technologies in the field of payments pushes the NSPK to proactive development, Elman Mehdiyev, head of the Association for the Development of Financial Literacy, told Izvestia. As a result, the organization is increasingly being transformed into a universal settlement infrastructure rather than a system focused primarily on card transactions.
—Any infrastructure operates at the expense of commission income, so the choice remains with the client: spend time searching for an ATM of "his" bank or pay a commission for a service that allows you to avoid this and save time," he believes.
Such technological changes, in his opinion, further reduce the value of the ATM network as an element of competition between banks. In the future, this may lead to the return of the model of a specialized cash infrastructure operator that will service and brand ATMs for different banks, depending on commercial conditions.
In general, SBP can be considered as one of the key achievements of Russian fintech, which fully corresponds to global trends in the development of digital financial services, Andrei Zhukovsky, senior researcher at the Institute of Regional Economics and Inter-Budgetary Relations at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. This payment infrastructure has been created, maintained and developed within the country and in a short time has become an integral part of the daily financial habits of citizens.
"Further expansion of the SBP's functionality, including through new services, can further increase customer confidence in the banking sector, reduce costs for financial institutions, and improve the quality and accessibility of financial services for businesses and the public," he believes.
If we talk about the possible following SBP services, most of them have already been identified in official materials: business payments to the budget, expansion of scenarios for using QR codes, including the generation of codes for payment at the checkout, Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at the Presidential Academy, told Izvestia. However, there is a question of expediency.
"Many of these functions were initially stated within the framework of the digital ruble concept, and as a result, two parallel, partially competing payment instruments are being formed, which are being developed by the same regulator, the Bank of Russia," he noted.
Izvestia sent a request to the Central Bank, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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