Policy of the Central Bank in the field of innovation and financial technology development

Blockchain in the Central Bank

Main article: Blockchain in the Central Bank of Russia

Central Bank policy in the field of information security

Main article: Central Bank policy in the field of information protection (cybersecurity)

2025: Central Bank prepares registers of developers and users of AI technologies

In mid-March, the Central Bank submitted for public discussion a draft directive^[1], which establishes the rules for maintaining two additional registers: persons participating in the use of solutions developed using artificial intelligence technologies; results of intellectual activity (RID), created, among other things, using artificial intelligence technologies. These registers are additions to the previously created register of persons who entered into legal relations with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation within the framework of the experimental legal regime in the field of digital innovations in the financial market.

A similar register has already existed for 4 years, - Evgeny Tsarev, manager of RTM Group, reminded TAdviser readers. - However, the peculiarity is that regulation of, for example, the financial market is limited only to financial institutions. Still, the risks from the same artificial intelligence are clear. Today, there is simply not enough understanding of what AI developments will lead to. But what can definitely be done is at least understand what developments and solutions are in principle. And in the future, if such a registry becomes a useful tool, you can even recommend solutions from it for the entire industry. But it already depends on how the project develops. As for the innovation market, it may turn out that getting into the register will open the door to new markets. Perhaps innovators will line up to get into it.

The draft guidelines establish sets of fields that should be in each registry, as well as rules for including new participants in them. The registers themselves will not be opened, and third parties will be able to access them in accordance with the program of the experimental legal regime. An explanatory note to the draft regulatory act was not published, and the organizer indicated in the project passport did not answer TAdviser's questions.

According to Nikita Lobanov and Alia Bilalova, legal advisers of the Argument legal agency, the Central Bank plans to use the registers being created to ensure transparency and control over the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the financial sector.

The results of intellectual activity (RID) from the register can be used to test and introduce new financial products and services, experts say. - This will allow market participants to innovate in a more flexible legal environment, help reduce risks and increase confidence in such technologies, which, in turn, will speed up the process of commercialization of new solutions.

According to experts, registers can be used to solve the following problems:

1. Legalization and protection: REEDs entered in the register will be officially recognized and protected, which will help creators guarantee their rights to work results and exclude possible disputes over intellectual property;
2. Commercialization: Market participants will be able to more easily find and use RID to create new products and services, as well as license and transfer the right to use these developments;
3. Collaborations: Registries can facilitate partnerships between different organizations as they provide information on available technologies and solutions created using artificial intelligence;
4. Experimental legal regimes: the presence of such a regime makes it possible to quickly receive feedback and promptly improve developments, since the state establishes special rules instead of the current norms;
5. Innovative programs and projects: REEDs entered into registries can be used to participate in public and private innovation initiatives, including grants, investments and acceleration programs;
6. Training and research: READ data can be used by educational institutions and research organizations for scientific work and advanced training.

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Фото: Freepik

The Central Bank is actively involved in the regulation of AI, - recalled TAdviser Yuri Gizatullin, founder of Tiqum. - In 2023, in its report on the use of AI in the financial market, the Central Bank identified 3 models of possible regulation: restrictive, hybrid and stimulating. The main task is, on the one hand, to create a comfortable environment for developers, and on the other, to ensure the security of financial systems. The Central Bank is trying to standardize the market where chaos now rules: from copyrights for algorithms to answering the question, "who is responsible for decisions made with the participation of AI?" Registries are the foundation of trust in projects with AI solutions and a logical step in the development of the industry. The main thing is not to "bend the stick" and not to stand on the rails of the restrictive control model.

Actually, the draft document itself says that it is a clarification of the norms set by law No. 258-FZ "On experimental legal regimes in the field of digital innovation in the Russian Federation." Over time, these norms should turn into full-fledged laws governing the work of digital innovation institutions. However, in order not to lose the data obtained during the experiment, they need to be recorded, and with the legalization of this information at the level of regulatory documents.

The creation of registers is necessary to collect data on existing developments and their authors, - explained to TAdviser Mikhail Krasilnikov, Director of the Department for Development and Implementation of AI Systems BIA Technologies. - In the future, state regulators will be able to introduce technical or legal requirements, which will ensure a higher level of control and quality. In addition, introducing rules on a subclass of solutions is easier than dealing with each separately. Systematization is a natural stage in the development of all technologies and phenomena. Of course, artificial intelligence technologies, as a separate type of IT activity, also require systematization and ordering.

It should be noted that developers of software and solutions based on artificial intelligence, as a rule, do not have expensive material assets. In order for them to get investments secured by something, they need to fix such intangible assets as artificial intelligence models or READ. Perhaps it is for this that the Central Bank creates similar registers.

The creation of registers will help fix legal relations and minimize controversial situations thanks to easy access to the status of participants, - said Vladimir Glebovets, a lawyer at WMT Group. - The presented project does not affect the procedure for using the READ, in this sense nothing will change. However, it provides for other positive aspects that will further confirm the authorship and existence of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity, as well as provide transparent mechanisms for the transfer and licensing of RID between participants. In addition, the register will create additional bases for protecting the rights of copyright holders and avoid conflicts related to intellectual property. In the future, analysts will also be able to use the data to assess the success and demand of innovative solutions as part of the experiment.

Now there is a need to form a market for such intellectual objects as models of artificial intelligence and the results of research activities. Their value must be determined by the market, but for this they must be catalogued.

The register of REED solutions can be a catalog for use in state-owned companies or for organizations receiving subsidies, "suggested Sergey Chashchin, CEO and founder of BVM. - At the end of 2023, there was talk that subsidies would be provided only to those who implement AI. Since there are many solutions based on artificial intelligence, and more applications, the criteria are not clear. A register of specific REEDs can help with this. An alternative hypothesis is the tokenization of REEDs and their monetization. A register of those who use them to charge and those to whom it is owed. As a catalog of decisions approved at the state level. Or as a new way to protect your developments, intangible assets.

The fact that discussions about the authorship of the results of AI activities have long been reminded by the editors of TAdviser Vladimir Afanasyev, founder of the system integrator ICE Partners. Within the framework of these discussions, three positions were formed on the authorship of AI works. They can be considered:

• AI itself;
• The man who wrote the promt;
• AI developer.

It seems that the Central Bank eventually decided to attribute authorship to a person, and in order to put an end to the question of "which one?," I decided to make a register, "says Vladimir Afanasyev. - And, as a result, based on this registry, it will be possible to make patent protection of duration results using AI. This is the first assumption. Second, we have a powerful and unaccounted for tool that needs to be somehow put into the legal framework. The third assumption is that the registry may be followed by a set of tools with the validation of the product of the created AI for ethics and safety.

However, there is a possibility that collecting information about READ and users of AI models may not be useful.

Undoubtedly, the formation of a register of intellectual activity results, including using artificial intelligence technologies, will help streamline work with intellectual property objects, "Viktor Klementyev, technical director of Outpost Solutions, shared his arguments with TAdviser. - However, I would like to pay attention to the risk that the register may be oversaturated with objects obtained using artificial intelligence technologies, including those of the same type. In my opinion, the reason for this may be the speed of generation of such objects. The developed register can quickly fill with "garbage" objects and will lose importance for practical use for regulatory purposes. Another aspect is the difficulty of verifying the results obtained by artificial intelligence.

2024

Approval of the main directions for the development of the national payment system until 2027

The Bank of Russia approved the main directions for the development of the national payment system (ONR NPS) until 2027. The main priorities are to expand the relevant infrastructure, improve regulation, product competition in the payment services market, and introduce innovations. This is stated in materials published on December 26, 2024.

During the development of the NPS ONR, the proposals of banking and professional associations of payment market participants, as well as international experience and trends in the development of the payment sector, were analyzed. The implementation of the measures will be carried out by the Bank of Russia in cooperation with interested government bodies, participants in the payment services market and their professional associations. The key areas of work are the digital ruble, a universal QR code, bioequiring, open program interfaces (APIs), and the development of infrastructure for international payments.

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Фото: Freepik

In particular, when creating a digital ruble platform, special attention is paid to usability. Therefore, settlements in digital rubles are carried out by citizens and legal entities using the already familiar mobile applications of banks and remote banking systems. The Bank of Russia intends to make a transition to the mass use of the digital ruble in July 2025. In the future, it is planned to implement e-com payments at the initiative of retail outlets and payments of legal entities in favor of individuals. In addition, it is planned to further develop auto payments using smart contracts, providing the opportunity to connect individual entrepreneurs to the digital ruble platform.

At the same time, the Bank of Russia, NSPK (National Payment Card System) and interested participants in the payment market are working on the launch of a bioequiring service that will allow payment using biometric payer data. It is planned to provide support for the use of Mir cards in bioequiring.

The Bank of Russia is also working on the implementation of open APIs, which allow for the standardized exchange of financial data of the client (with his consent). A hybrid approach to the implementation of the technology has been identified: advisory and then mandatory use of open API standards by financial market participants and their recommended application by organizations of other sectors of the economy.^[2]

Criticism of German Gref over the Central Bank's approach to regulating financial innovation

On December 6, 2024, the head of Sberbank, German Gref, expressed concerns that the Bank of Russia's desire to regulate decisions made by financial market players could impede innovation. This, in particular, is about the regulator monopolizing some technologies.

As Gref notes, excessive regulatory measures discourage "any desire to engage in innovation." At the same time, according to the head of Sberbank, Russian banks are able to solve very difficult problems that other organizations are unable to cope with.

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Фото: Kremlin Website

The most important thing is that this expansion - we are fighting with the approach of NATO to our borders - more and more of the regulator's border are approaching, they are already going for all the red and green and all other buoys in terms of business, - said Gref, whose words are quoted by Interfax.

Gref touched upon the topic of QR codes. In November 2024, a bill was submitted to the State Duma that obliges banks, when making non-cash payments, to provide customers with transfer details or reference to them only through a universal payment QR code operated by the National Payment Card System (NSPK).

We will have a link to a payment sticker monopoly in the state, a law has been introduced on this topic, this is an unprecedented thing, "Gref said.

According to him, Sberbank by the end of 2024 uses a million terminals "pay with a smile" using biometric technologies. During 2025, the number of such devices is planned to be increased to 2 million. Gref emphasizes that Russia is the only country in the world that was able to implement such a project on such a large scale.

The most important thing is that our next step does not begin "monopolization" and "pay with a smile." That's the biggest threat, then we'll stop innovation, "Gref said.[3]

Central Bank will check banks' compliance with the transition to Russian software

In mid-May 2024, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation published instructions on the procedure for the regulator to monitor and monitor compliance by credit and non-bank organizations with the implementation of action plans for the transition to Russian ICT solutions. Read more here.

2023

Central Bank introduces stimulating regulation for technological sovereignty projects

On June 13, 2023, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced the introduction of stimulating banking regulation for lending to projects of technological sovereignty and structural adaptation of the economy. This will allow banks with a universal license to reduce the burden on capital on targeted loans issued for the implementation of such projects after September 30, 2022, the press service of the regulator said.

The criteria for projects covered by the new regulation are approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. The reduction of the capital burden can be from 10 to 70% of the standard value of credit risk on a loan, depending on the category of the project (technological sovereignty or structural adaptation of the economy) and the credit quality of the loan, including determined by means of national credit ratings. To limit risks, stimulating regulation will be able to apply only banks that comply with surcharges to capital adequacy standards.

The Central Bank announced the introduction of stimulating banking regulation for lending to technological sovereignty projects

The Bank of Russia expects that the introduction of stimulating regulation will contribute to financing the most significant investment projects for the country's economy. At the same time, due to the release of capital, the total increase in lending potential may amount to 10 trillion rubles. This will create an additional impetus for the development of priority areas of Russian industry and help reorient foreign economic activity to new markets, the Central Bank believes.

It is assumed that the issuance of the first targeted loans for the implementation of technological sovereignty projects will begin in the second half of 2023. By 2030, lending in the amount of 15-20 trillion rubles is predicted.

Earlier in 2023, the Government of the Russian Federation determined the priority areas of projects of technological sovereignty and structural adaptation of the Russian economy. The work will be carried out in 13 priority areas: aviation industry, automotive industry, railway engineering, medical industry, oil and gas engineering, agricultural engineering, specialized engineering, machine tool industry, shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, electronics and power.^[4]

The Central Bank received the right to control the transition of banks to Russian software

At the end of May 2023, the State Duma adopted in the third (final reading) law on empowering the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to control the transition of Russian banks to domestic software. The authors of the Initsativa are a group of deputies and senators headed by the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov.

According to TASS with reference to the explanatory note to the bill, the document was developed in order to determine the powers of the Bank of Russia to control the implementation of action plans for the transition to the predominant use of domestic software by financial institutions, domestic radio electronic products and telecommunication equipment, including as part of software and hardware systems at significant facilities of critical information infrastructure, including control over the performance of purchases of foreign software and related services by these organizations.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation was empowered to control the transition of Russian banks to domestic software

According to the bill, the Central Bank receives such powers to ensure the continuity of the provision of banking and financial services. The introduction of such measures is also explained by the acceptable use of Russian software.

At the end of April 2023, Vedomosti wrote that the authorities and the market are discussing the creation of an infrastructure organization that will help small and medium-sized banks, as well as other financial institutions, switch to domestic software. Then this was confirmed by the chairman of the Duma committee on the financial market Anatoly Aksakov.

The representative of the Central Bank said in May 2023 that the regulator is monitoring the situation with the transition to Russian software and he is aware of issues arising from small banks. In addition, the Central Bank is working to create legal conditions for external hiring of IT specialists and the use of cloud services by financial organizations.^[5]

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation will allow banks to outsource the development of IT solutions and the storage of information with banking secrecy in the cloud

In mid-May 2023, it became known that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation plans to provide Russian banks with the opportunity to use the outsourcing model in the development of specialized IT products. In addition, such a scheme can be used to store information with bank secrets in the cloud.

According to the Vedomosti newspaper, we are talking about the adoption of a new bill regulating the transfer of relevant types of confidential data. Savva Morozov, consultant of the methodology for monitoring and monitoring of the information security department of the Central Bank, spoke about this at the annual meeting of the ARPP "Domestic Software." The document is already ready: it is undergoing interdepartmental coordination.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation will allow banks to outsource the development of IT solutions and the storage of information with banking secrecy in the cloud

Market participants note that financial institutions are not able to independently develop all the necessary IT solutions and services to provide services to customers, and therefore need contractors. However, outsourcing development is fraught with certain difficulties - primarily related to control issues, as well as ensuring security and banking secrecy. For this reason, for example, banks are trying to avoid using third-party cloud platforms. The law under discussion can change the formed practice.

The bill, among other things, is aimed at removing legal restrictions on the regime for processing information constituting certain types of secrets, including bank secrets, a representative of the Central Bank told the Vedomosti newspaper.

It is expected that the new rules will help financial institutions reduce the cost of maintaining their own IT departments. Savings can reach hundreds of millions of rubles a year. At the same time, banks, when implementing their projects, will be able to choose the most qualified contractor with specialization in the desired area.^[6]

2022

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation presented the concept of introducing open APIs on the Russian market

In November 2022, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation presented the concept of introducing open program interfaces (APIs) in the financial market. According to the regulator, the use of such technologies will contribute to the emergence of innovative services and services, the further development of competition, and will significantly increase the availability and quality of financial products for citizens and businesses.

The document formulates approaches to the implementation of open APIs on the Russian market, as well as to the implementation of uniform standards for a number of key operations in this area. This, on the one hand, will reduce the costs of companies, on the other, it will form new opportunities for consumers to manage their financial products and services.

Central Bank published the concept of introducing open APIs on the financial market

By implementing open APIs, companies will be able to exchange client data and thereby offer more customer-oriented products and services. At the same time, it is important that the exchange of such data will be possible only with the consent of the client and subject to the requirements for the protection of confidential information, the Central Bank notes.

The regulator proposes to introduce open interfaces first in the financial market in the form of an open finance model, when service providers receive banking, payment, insurance, investment, pension and other data about the client. Then the Central Bank wants to extend this practice to other sectors of the economy in the form of open data - financial and non-financial organizations (for example, in the field of telecommunications, e-commerce) and state information bases will exchange client data.

The results can be achieved already in the medium term, writes the Central Bank: the implementation of the proposed model is less resource-intensive and does not require long coordination with other departments. The regulator will make the final decision on the list of mandatory and advisory open APIs, as well as the stages of their implementation, following the discussion of the concept with the market.

According to the current (by November 2022) plans of the Central Bank, until the end of 2024, the use of open APIs will be advisory in nature, and then "their application for a number of operations for the largest organizations will become mandatory." In other words, large banks that have built ecosystems so that the companies included in them can access each other's customer data will have to open information to competitors from the beginning of 2025.

Concept of implementation of open APIs in the financial market - CBR

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation limited banks to the accrual of cashback

On June 1, 2022, Alfa-Bank sent notifications to its customers (TAdvser journalist also received it) about the introduction of restrictions on cashback - the credit institution will return up to 0.5% of the amount of purchases instead of the previous 2%.

Alfa-Bank and other credit organizations have limited cashback in accordance with the requirements of the Central Bank for the maximum amount of commission that banks charge from stores for accepting cards. The maximum value of acquiring commissions at the level of 1% for payment by cards of socially significant goods and services. The amount of interconnection, which is the basis of the acquiring commission and due to which banks pay cashback, is set at 0.7%. Prior to that, the rates for acquiring were at the level of 1.2-2.2%. The store pays these fees to its serving bank.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation limited banks to the accrual of cashback

The acquiring fee includes several commissions at once: to the acquiring bank, the payment system, as well as the bank that issued the card. The last fee is the largest part of the total payment from the outlet. It is from it that card issuing banks pay cashback in favor of customers.

The reduced commissions apply to the retail sale of food, consumer goods, including clothing, fuel, medical devices and medicines, as well as services in the fields of communications, housing and communal services, medicine, education, culture, tourism and passenger transportation.

In addition to Alfa Bank, other banks have also cut cashback. Thus, Rosbank has changed the conditions under the "Everything is possible" program: 0.5% will be charged for purchases of goods and services for which the acquiring commission is limited instead of 1%. The credit institution will also cease to charge an increased remuneration of 3% for part of the categories.

Russian Standard began to charge 0.5% for goods and services with a limited acquiring commission instead of 1-1.5%. The changes will affect RS Cashback, Travel, Membership Rewards, RSB Imperia Rewards, RSB World Mastercard Cash Back programs.^[7]

2021

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation allowed banks to exchange customer data through open APIs

At the end of December 2021, it became known about the decision of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to allow credit institutions to exchange customer data through open open banking program interfaces (APIs). According to the regulator, such an initiative will help develop competition in the market, increase financial accessibility and will contribute to the emergence of new digital services for citizens and companies.

As Izvestia writes with reference to the draft main directions for the development of the financial market for 2022-2024, which was developed by the Central Bank, the transfer of client data between banks will be carried out with his consent. Banks supported the innovation, since this will allow them to more accurately calculate the credit rating and reduce the risks of losses, the newspaper notes.

The Bank of Russia allowed banks to exchange customer data through open APIs

The initiative was supported by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and the Association of Banks of Russia. By the end of 2021, large companies are monopolists of customer data, but access to them should also be provided to small and medium-sized players, the FAS noted. Having such information will allow other banks to analyze and evaluate borrowers, as well as in the development of new products, and will equalize the competitive environment.

Credit organizations agree that a system for the exchange of data between market participants is necessary, and offer to establish the same access to information with retail, said Anatoly Kozlachkov, vice president of the Association of Russian Banks.

Such a service will help small organizations, but without a system for analyzing data on their own and potential customers, banks will not be able to work with retail, said Yaroslav Kabakov, director of strategy at Finam Investment Company.

The Central Bank notes that thanks to open APIs, it is possible to create, for example, a universal mobile application for clients for financial management in several companies at the same time or organize online payment for goods and services through partner applications.^[8]

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has determined the strategic directions for the development of fintech until 2024

In December 2021, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation presented the main directions of digitalization of the financial market for the next three years. The regulator determined the key tasks of regulating the turnover of data, ecosystems and non-bank payment service providers, as well as improving electronic interaction between market participants, the state, citizens and business.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation plans to continue the development of such infrastructure projects as the Unified Biometric System, Digital Profile, Marketplace and the Fast Payment System. In addition, it is planned to introduce open APIs and create a commercial consent platform.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has determined the strategic directions for the development of fintech until 2024

The Bank of Russia has prepared a concept for introducing open APIs, which will be submitted for discussion with market participants, fintech companies, government agencies and other stakeholders. Based on the results of the discussions, the possibility of regulating the exchange of data through open APIs in various sectors of the economy will be worked out in order to develop competition between financial market participants and non-financial companies and appropriate amendments to the legislation will be developed.

The Bank of Russia also calls the development of information security technologies and ensuring cyber stability one of the main priorities. Particular attention will be paid to the development of digital ruble and Know Your Client platforms.

In addition, as reported in the document, in order to expand the use of innovative instruments in the financial market, it is planned to develop legal regulation of utilitarian digital rights (USP) and digital financial assets (CFA). At the legislative level, the peculiarities of taxation of operations with the CDS and CFA will be established in terms of payment of VAT, personal income tax and corporate income tax, taxation of the services of the investment platform operator, the information system operator in which the CFA is issued, and the CFA exchange operator.^[9]

Central Bank tightens regulation of the ecosystem of banks

On July 22, 2021, it became known about the reaction of the heads of the largest banks to the tightened regulation of banking ecosystems initiated by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Credit institutions warned about the closure of branches due to new measures.

The Elvira Nabiullina head, Sberbank Hermann Gref head, VTB Andrey Kostin board, board of directors of the bank Gazprombank Andrei Akimov"" and Opening Mikhail Zadornov the president signed a letter addressed to the head of the Central Bank. Association of Russian Banks Georgy Luntovsky

Central Bank tightens regulation of the ecosystem of banks

According to RBC, in June 2021, the Central Bank proposed to strengthen the regulation of banks that want to develop their own ecosystems and platforms for non-financial services. The regulator announced this in its report on the specifics of regulation of credit institutions investing in ecosystems and other types of non-financial businesses.

As part of the implementation of a flexible regulatory approach, the Central Bank proposed increasing capital requirements for banks developing large ecosystems. The regulator believes that the uncontrolled development of ecosystems based on financial organizations can lead to the implementation of some risks for creditors and depositors, financial stability in general.

The authors of the appeal claim that 190 out of 377 banks analyzed may not fit into the proposed risk-sensitive limit. The excess will require deducting 1.75 trillion rubles from capital, which will reduce the base from which sufficiency standards are calculated.

The largest amount of deduction will be characteristic of retail banks with a large network of branches, especially in cities with a small population, since such branches are characterized by a high ratio of the value of the branch to the volume of funds raised and loans issued, the letter says.

Banks also warned that in the new conditions they will have to become stricter on borrowers, as well as more often to destroy enterprises than to restore their activities. Such changes will affect lending to the real sector of the economy. Interest rates on loans will significantly increase for innovative businesses, since banks will no longer be able to enter capital.^[10]

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has developed uniform criteria for mobile applications of banks

At the end of February 2021, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation presented criteria for mobile applications of banks, through which individuals can open accounts, deposits and issue loans without personal presence in the banking branch. This initiative, according to the regulator, is aimed at optimizing the expenses of credit institutions.

As reported in the explanatory note to the document, if the bank has several mobile applications, then it will be obliged to ensure the possibility of remote provision of services only in one of them, which is used by the largest number of its clients.

The document also establishes that a credit institution may not provide services remotely using the application if a decision is made to stop using the application within one year from the date of notification of the Bank of Russia about the adoption of the relevant decision.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has developed uniform criteria for mobile applications of banks

Such notification shall be sent by the Bank through its personal account in accordance with the procedure established by Bank of Russia Ordinance No. 5361-U, dated 19 December 2019, "On the Procedure for Bank of Russia Interaction with Credit Institutions, non-bank financial institutions and other information exchange participants when using the Bank of Russia's information resources; including personal account, "registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on March 4, 2020 No. 57659, November 12, 2020 No. 60878, the document says.

It is assumed that the unified criteria for mobile applications of banks will enter into force on January 1, 2022. The new rule will apply to all banks with a universal license. According to the law, banks with a universal license must remotely open accounts and issue loans in rubles to individual clients after identification.^[11]

2020

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation plans to introduce a universal payment address for a quick change of the bank

At the end of December 2020, it became known about the plans of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to introduce a universal payment address, which will ensure the crediting of funds to the recipient when changing his bank details. Thanks to him, the regulator expects to simplify the process of changing the servicing bank for Russians.

Such a mechanism can be launched in demand on the market, RBC writes with reference to the draft development strategy of the National Payment System for 2021-2023, which the Bank of Russia sent to industry representatives.

The Bank of Russia is going to introduce a universal payment address for a quick change of the bank

The Central Bank also plans to determine the conditions for such a transition. The launch of simplified bank change mechanisms should contribute to the development of competition, the document says.

The executive director Electronic Money and Remittance Market Participants Associations Pavel Shust noted that too difficult a transition from bank to bank leads to monopolization. financial sector KPMG CIS Natalia Rakova, head of consulting services for companies in Russia, believes that by the end of 2020 there is no urgent need for such a mechanism, because clients prefer to use several. banks

According to the Central Bank, by the end of 2020, more than 65% of all bank accounts and payments of Russians are per player. RBC writes that we are talking about the largest bank in Russia - Sberbank. It also accounts for over 70% of the market for issuing and servicing bank cards. The Central Bank believes that this may limit customers in the use of products and services of other banks, since they become economically unprofitable compared to the products of the "main player."

The regulator cites the example of the United States, where about 50% of the assets of the banking system fall on the four largest banks, the share of any of them in the payment market does not exceed 15%. They are actively competing with each other, the document says.^[12]

The Central Bank decided to introduce passports of financial products in order to protect Russians from services imposed by banks

On December 10, 2020, it became known about the intention of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to introduce passports of financial products to protect against imposing services. The regulator has developed a draft law according to which banks will be required to disclose to customers the benefits and risks of investments in writing. Read more here.

Investment Consulting Software Requirements

At the end of July 2020, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation presented requirements for software for investment consulting. Compliance with these requirements will be checked by self-regulatory organizations when accrediting programs (SRO NFA and NAUFOR).

According to the regulator, programs for robot advisers, among other things, must follow the following requirements:

• provision of individual investment recommendations in relation to securities, transactions with them and (or) conclusion of contracts, which are derivative financial instruments, in accordance with the investment profile of the investment adviser's client;
• maintenance of electronic logs of accounting of the program users performed using the program when performing operations to determine the client's investment profile;
• prevention of unauthorized access to the program (including the use of the user account of the program), which, among other things, may entail a change in the mechanism (algorithm) of the program;
• availability of information about the client's investment profile;
• auto-follow programs that copy a particular broker's strategy and transactions must keep records of the broker's orders.

Requirements for software from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for investment consulting

Based on the fact that the relationship of the investment adviser with the client is trusting, fiduciary in nature, the document establishes rules governing the obligation of the adviser to act in the interests of the client, including within the framework of the "auto-follow" service.

The Central Bank hopes that a new approach to regulating robot advisers will increase the transparency of transactions made with their help, protect consumers of financial products from unfair practices and will contribute to the development of innovative technologies in investment activities.

The new requirements will come into force in April 2021.^[13]

Remote opening of bank accounts for small and medium-sized businesses

On April 21, 2020, it became known that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation allowed banks to remotely open accounts for small and medium-sized businesses. The norm will be valid until July 1 and is introduced due to the self-isolation regime in the country.

In the context of the continuing difficult epidemiological situation in the Russian Federation associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), as well as taking into account the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 2, 2020 No. 422 "On the approval of the rules for the provision of subsidies from the federal budget to Russian credit institutions to reimburse their lost income on loans, issued in 2020 to small and medium-sized businesses for urgent needs to support and maintain employment, - said in a letter that the Central Bank sent to Russian credit institutions.

Central Bank of the Russian Federation allowed banks to remotely open accounts for small and medium-sized businesses

Urgent needs mean expenses related to the payment of wages and mandatory accruals for it.

The document notes that the rule does not apply in cases where the regulator detects the facts of remote opening of accounts based on inaccurate identification information. Thus, banks will have to take additional care by opening an account for legal entities without their personal presence in branches.

Banks are advised to ensure the personal presence of a client - an individual entrepreneur or his representative, a representative of a client - a legal entity after July 1, 2020, providing for the corresponding condition in the bank account agreement.

Previously, banks were prohibited from opening an individual entrepreneur or a legal entity bank account without the personal presence of the client or his representative. But during the coronavirus pandemic, the Central Bank will not fine banks for such actions.^[14]

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation allowed banks to open accounts for new customers via the Internet

In April 2020, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation allowed banks to open accounts for new customers via the Internet. As explained on the regulator's website, the relaxation does not apply to all types of accounts, but only those that will be used to make "socially significant payments."

In particular, we are talking about the transfer of alimony, pensions, scholarships and other social payments, as well as insurance refunds and payments on mortgage loans. The measure will be valid until July 1, 2020.

The Central Bank of Russia, due to the spread of coronavirus, approved new rules for opening accounts during the period of self-isolation

Previously, the so-called anti-money laundering law forbade banks to open accounts for new customers without their personal presence. The exception was when biometric identification through the EBS was used. The self-isolation regime pushed the Central Bank to introduce new rules.

In the context of the development of a pandemic, it is very important that financial transactions are carried out mainly remotely. This will allow customers not to visit offices, and banks not to bring a large number of employees to work, - explained in the Russian Central Bank.[15]

The regulator also recommended that microfinance organizations limit personal interaction with borrowers, including when collecting overdue debts.

Senior Vice President VTB Nikita Chugunov called the Central Bank's initiative to remotely open accounts timely, especially against the background of the imposed restrictions on movement in the regions, "" reports. Sheets According to preliminary data, customer identification can be carried out using an account on the public services portal, he said.

The head of the internal control service of Ak Bars Bank, Sergei Meshalkin, commenting on the letter from the Central Bank, pointed out the difficulties that may arise when opening an account remotely if the bank does not have the client's biometric data.

2019

Central Bank chose a partner for the development of the Russian analogue SWIFT

On November 18, 2019, it became known that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation chose a partner for the development of the Russian analogue SWIFT. According to Denis Zagumennov, Deputy Head of the Department of the National Payment System of the Central Bank, the Bank of Russia decided to develop a financial messaging system (SPFS) together with the National Settlement Depository (NSD). Read more here.

Launch of the "Know Your Customer" bank platform to identify suspicious customers according to 100 criteria

On October 15, 2019, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation presented the Know Your Customer solution, designed to identify suspicious customers according to 100 criteria. The platform will divide legal entities and individual entrepreneurs into three categories. Read more here.

Central Bank invited about 20 banks to participate in a pilot in the field of open APIs

On August 21, 2019, it became known that the Bank of Russia acted as the coordinator of a pilot project in the field of open APIs (application software interfaces) for the integration of bank services within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). At the time of the release of the material, the Central Bank, together with the central banks of the EAEU countries, is preparing the pilot for implementation. Bankers who received a proposal from the Central Bank told Kommersant about this. In total, about 20 credit institutions received a letter from the regulator, which must give an answer about their readiness to participate by August 23.

To harmonize approaches to the use of open APIs in the EAEU countries and study the possibility of unifying the developed standards, it is planned to conduct an appropriate pilot project with the involvement of commercial banks, the Central Bank noted.

In particular, according to a source familiar with the scenarios, it is planned to open information through APIs about ATMs, branches, services for individuals and legal entities and their availability for non-residents. It is assumed that financial institutions should provide information in the form of standard APIs that "can use country aggregators to organize service for end users."}}

VTB Raiffeisen Bank banks "Ak Bars" "Russian Standard" In,,,, while RNKO "Payment Center" considering the proposal of the Central Bank. Sberbank In noted that the main thing is "ensuring the security of any information that clients trust us, and protecting their interests." Sovcombank Assess the necessary resources to participate in the project.

According to market participants, the regulator's proposal has advantages. Thus, the presented scenarios will make it possible to work out the basic principles of information provision: format, composition of information, information security issues when interacting between the information owner and the consumer. In the future, the development of open APIs will allow individuals to receive financial services from the bank of any EAEU country. The use of open interfaces also improves the quality of client service, reducing the time for bringing solutions to market.

In turn, experts point to the risks of the project, which consists in the possibility of illegal access to client information, in the creation of viral software that interacts with banking applications. At the same time, the economic benefit from the implementation of this proposal, in their opinion, is not obvious - if a small bank needs to make the code of its client software open, then the costs of this may exceed the annual budget for servicing the entire BN system of the bank, and the state should help in this.^[16]

The Central Bank plans to introduce open APIs forcibly and quickly

In August 2019, the Central Bank, during a closed meeting with bankers, held at the Fintech Association, presented its vision for the development of open APIs in the banking sector.

According to the regulator, the main prerequisites for the transition to open APIs in the banking sector are the development of technologies, a new generation of clients with new expectations, as well as the growth of monopolization of the ^[17] to ^[18].

The Central Bank identified three types of open APIs: commercial, infrastructure (SBP, Marketplace, EBS, Digital Profile, Masterchain) and regulatory (reporting, API for federal executive bodies).

Participants in the closed meeting said that the regulator plans to implement the Open API forcibly, explaining this by the experience of Great Britain and Australia, and does not intend to hesitate.

According to the roadmap, which was proposed to be coordinated within a month, the work on the development of the concept will be carried out in the third quarter of this year, and pilot projects will be launched in the first quarter of 2020. The law on open APIs should be developed in the first quarter of 2021. As noted in the Central Bank, the standardization of open APIs will provide convenience and optimization of technological costs when exchanging information between participants and speed up the launch of products on the market.

The Russian Standard Bank believes that if necessary, the implementation of a standardized Open API for large banks is not problematic and should not cause difficulties, internal large IT services can implement this task in a fairly short time, since non-standardized APIs already exist in almost all significant players in the financial market:

"Today, the IT architecture of large banks most often follows the path of creating APIs as part of building client systems, and small banks, on the contrary, most often use boxed solutions, so the implementation on their side will depend on the developer of the IT products they use. At the initial stage, the use of the standardized Open API is most convenient in the transmission of public data of banks that are open to customers, for example, the location of offices and ATMs, their operating mode, valid deposit rates, loan applications and other bank products. Now work is already underway in this direction - data is transmitted through the API of banks, but since they are not standardized, aggregators of such data have to be configured to receive information from each specific bank. A uniform standard for all banks, for example, as is now the case in the UK financial system, would make it easier for all market players. As a result, for example, aggregator applications such as all ATMs in Russia, or marketplaces with a showcase of banking products of different banks for online registration and many other customer-friendly services that consolidate information from all banks transmitted through a standardized Open API may appear. The standardized Open API is extremely convenient when communicating data for regulatory authorities, such as reporting, information exchange, and electronic document management. "

Дом.РФ will develop a mortgage platform in the Marketplace project

On February 14, 2019 ДОМ.РФ , the company announced that it had begun developing a mortgage platform as part of the Marketplace project. Bank of RussiaДОМ.РФ, as a single institute for development in the housing sector, will act as the operator of the platform. The experience of the pilot launch of the platform will make it possible to prepare proposals for changing the regulation necessary for the further development of remote sales mortgage products to the population. More. here

Banks approved the digital initiative of the Central Bank, allowing to fight the monopoly of Sberbank

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation plans to turn into an ecosystem and become part of the infrastructure of the financial market, to which other players will be able to connect. In January 2019, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vasily Pozdyshev told Izvestia about this in an interview with Izvestia. ^[19]." He noted that at the same time, the Central Bank is fundamentally important for the digital transformation to successfully pass not "one largest bank," but most market participants.

To do this, the Central Bank will offer so-called public platforms to help banks and financial companies. They will be controlled by a consortium of organizations, credit or non-credit, says Pozdyshev.

There will be several platforms, with various functions. We mean different types of standard services or registers that will be used by everyone, and none of the market players will have either control or the opportunity to "sell only their own." An example is the fast payment system: from this year it will be possible to transfer money from one bank to another with a minimum commission, knowing the client's phone number, - the deputy chairman of the Central Bank Izvestia is quoted as saying.

It is also a register of pledges: until the bank can quickly check whether the client's assets are pledged in another organization, and what their real value is. As a result, risks and costs are growing. Therefore, the Central Bank creates a general register where banks will submit information about pledges. If the regulator itself conducted an assessment, these data will appear in the register. The project will begin work in 2019, but so far only for supervisory purposes, and later it is planned to open it for use by commercial banks.

Banks welcome the creation of public platforms "(photo - polit.info)"

Representatives of banks with whom TAdviser talked see great prospects in creating common platforms, which the Central Bank speaks about. Alfa-Bank believes that their formation is necessary primarily in those market segments where there are real problems with ensuring an appropriate level of competition. The bank considers the fast payment system a good example.

This project allows you to effectively fight the monopoly of Sberbank in the p2p payment market. None of the market participants could cope with this problem on their own. Alfa-Bank is one of the first to connect to the SBP. Also, such platforms can be a serious help for small banks, which cannot afford large projects for the self-digitalization of certain areas of business, - said Ivan Pyatkov, director of digital business and innovation at Alfa-Bank.

A similar position is held in Loko-Bank.

Such platforms will increase real competition for the client. Public platforms will enable customers to choose really favorable conditions, not just the size of the bank. This will provide an opportunity for the development of medium and small market players, "said Andrey Lyushin, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Loko-Bank, in a conversation with TAdviser.

The Raiff eisen Bank believes that this is a good idea when a common platform is created by an independent player and helps banks in matters where banks at their level cannot, for one reason or another, build infrastructure or ensure interaction with other players. It is important that the platforms are really built in order to improve the user experience of customers, and not just transfer the bank from one player to another, says Roman Zilber, member of the board of Raiffeisen Bank, head of the department for servicing individuals and small businesses.

Interest in the use of public platforms was expressed by Zenit Bank.

The creation of public platforms will lead to the expansion of the bank's business through access to customers in those regions where our bank is not physically represented. Zenit is already participating in the Central Bank's Financial Services Marketplace project. Part of this project is the creation of such a platform where the client can choose and issue a bank deposit, loan, purchase and sell securities (bonds, mutual funds) and insurance products, - told TAdviser in the bank.

2018

Launch of "regulatory sandbox" for testing fintech projects

On April 19, 2018, the Bank of Russia announced the launch of a "regulatory sandbox" created to test innovative financial technologies, products and services. As noted in the analytical note of the Central Bank on the world experience in using the regulatory platform, the launch of such a mechanism for piloting fintech projects in Russia is designed to provide conditions for the development of innovations in the financial market and the transition to the digital economy.

Main ArticleBank of Russia Regulatory Platform

Financial Technology Development Strategy 2018-2020

The Bank of Russia approved the Key Directions for the Development of Financial Technologies for the Period 2018-2020. The corresponding document was published in February 2018 on the Central Bank website. 

The key areas of the document included the analysis, research and development of proposals for the use of new financial technologies in the Russian financial market, creation and development of elements of digital financial infrastructure, legal support in the field of financial technology development, increasing the flexibility and adaptability of regulation, creating a Bank of Russia regulatory platform for piloting innovative financial technologies; the transition to electronic interaction between the regulator, state authorities, financial market participants and their clients^[20] for the ^[21].

Among the main elements of the digital financial infrastructure are platforms for remote identification, fast payments, a platform Marketplace for financial products and services, as well as new platforms based on distributed registries and cloud technologies for effective interaction of market participants in the digital environment. The key connecting element of the financial market infrastructure will be Open APIs. The creation of new infrastructure will ensure a level playing field for all market participants and will promote competition in the financial sector.

The implementation of these tasks will be carried out by financial market participants together with the Bank of Russia and interested government agencies under the Digital Economy of the Russian Federation program and other projects in the field of financial technology development.

The main goals of the Bank of Russia in the implementation of the Financial Technology Development Guidelines are to promote competition in the financial market, increase the availability, quality and range of financial services, reduce risks and costs in the financial sector, as well as increase the level of competitiveness of Russian technologies in general.

2016

Establishment of the Financial Technology Department

On April 25, 2016, the Central Bank of Russia announced the creation of a department of financial technologies. Details about the new division were given on the regulator's website.

The Financial Technology Department, established on the basis of existing competence centers for project and process management, also began monitoring, analyzing and evaluating the possible use of promising technologies and innovations in the financial market.

Central Bank created a financial technology division headed by Vadim Kaltukhov

The new division of the Bank of Russia was headed by Vadim Kalukhov, who previously held the position of First Deputy Director of the Information Technology Department as part of the regulator. At the time of his appointment as the head of the new department, Kalukhov is also the deputy head of the Central Bank's working group on financial technologies and innovations.

The speed of innovation and the emergence of new technologies in the modern world determine the development of new business models and ecosystems. As a mega-regulator, we see ourselves as an active participant in this process and believe that this will create new opportunities for designing business approaches at a qualitatively different level, "commented Olga Skorobogatova, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia

According to Vadim Kalukhov, the creation of a department of financial technologies will allow solving even more complex and ambitious tasks both within the Bank of Russia and in the interaction of the regulator with financial market participants.^[22]

Working Group to Analyze Blockchain and Other Financial Innovations

On February 28, 2016, the Bank of Russia announced the creation of the Working Group on the Analysis of Promising Technologies and Innovations in the Financial Market. Among the priority issues is the study of distributed technologies (for example, blockchain), as well as new developments in mobile, payment and other areas, the^[23]

Central Bank began to study blockchain and other financial innovations

author = Olga Skorobogatova, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia The development of the modern financial market is inseparable from the development of financial technologies. Financial services are rapidly digitalized, new business models and ecosystems of market participants are emerging, and the behavior of consumers of financial services is changing. The high-tech financial market needs a high-tech regulator that must thoroughly understand the essence of new financial processes and technologies and their possible application in practice.

The working group plans to hold regular meetings with representatives of banks, self-regulatory organizations and other participants in the financial market to discuss various aspects of the use of new financial technologies.

See also

• Information technologies in the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

Notes