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The heavily sanctioned jurisdiction appears to have similar goals to its Western counterparts, with its new two-year strategy for payments pushing for digitisation and alternatives to cards.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) has published a new strategy for the evolution of the National Payment System (NPS) for 2025–2027, outlining ambitious goals for modernisation and competition.
The strategy places an emphasis on digital transformation, including the adoption of the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble, as well as universal QR codes and enhanced APIs.
The strategy also prioritises strengthening cross-border payment systems to enhance global financial connectivity, which appears to be intended to make up for the country having been locked out of Swift in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.
To measure progress, the CBR has set clear benchmarks, such as increasing digital ruble platform participation and growing alternative non-cash payment methods such as biometrics and QR codes to 15 percent by 2027.
Previous targets have been surpassed, the central bank says, with non-cash payments reaching 85.3 percent of retail turnover in late 2024, well above the initial goal of 80 percent.
"Just 5-7 years ago, cards accounted for about 95 percent of all non-cash payments. Now this share is being redistributed in favor of other instruments,” said Alla Bakina, director of the NPS department of the CBR.
Bakina added that “our task is to give consumers a choice when for each situation, be it a purchase in a store near their home, on a marketplace, payment for housing and communal services or any other case, it would be possible to select the optimal payment instrument”.
“We will monitor the dynamics of the development of all components of this indicator. It reflects how popular and practically used are the new payment methods offered on the market," the official explained.
Key aims
Consumer trust and satisfaction remain central to Russia’s strategy, and initiatives laid out in the strategy include simplified subscription management, more transparent payment terms and improved access to financial services in remote areas through enhanced ATM capabilities.
The CBR also aims to expand cross-border payment infrastructure, allowing foreign bank branches in Russia to connect to the NPS and facilitating international transfers through the Fast Payment System (FPS).
According to the CBR, the FPS will support new payment scenarios, such as transactions for government services, education and healthcare, while improving business-to-business (B2B) payments.
It will also introduce customer-presented QR codes for smoother in-store purchases.
