“Everything is ready for the widespread use of the digital ruble,” Nabiullina said during a briefing during the Central Bank Financial Conference, per the translated report.
“Systemically important banks and large retailers will need to join in to accept it,” Nabiullina said. “Technologically, everything is ready; we've done a lot of preparatory work for this stage.”
“We want the digital ruble to be in demand by both people and businesses, and to be convenient,” she said. “And, of course, we're constantly in discussions with banks about what functionality to develop and how to do it.”
The independent outlet cited a survey by a state pollster which found that Russian citizens “do not understand why they need a third form of money,” beyond cash and non-cash options.
Nevertheless, the outlet reported that the Central Bank will aim to entice other banks to participate, paying a small commission of around 0.67 Rubles (less than $0.01) for completed payments.
