The Bank of Russia has announced plans to begin piloting a digital Ruble.

The central bank said the first stage of the pilot testing is intended to check all basic transactions, including opening of digital Ruble accounts wallets and money transfers to them, person-to-person digital Ruble transfers, simple automatic bill payments, and QR code-based payments for goods and services.

Testing the digital Ruble on real transactions with the participation of 13 banks and a limited number of their clients is set to begin on 15 August.

“We will be able to test how the digital Ruble platform operates in real-life conditions, check all necessary procedures with the participation of clients, adjust the processes where needed, and make sure that the customer journey is convenient and easy-to-understand for users,” said Olga Skorobogatova, first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia.

She added that based on the results of the stage-by-stage testing and pending the successful completion of pilot testing of all the scenarios of digital Ruble transactions, the central bank will set about issuing the digital Ruble for broad use.

As Russia continues to occupy neighbouring Ukraine following its invasion of the country in February 2022, the central bank recently launched Rupee accounts amid claims consumer demand for the US dollar and euro have fallen during the second year of its war.

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