Financial Messaging Service (FMS)

Main article: Central Bank of the Russian Federation

The use of SPFS is cheaper than the Belgian counterpart. The cost of one message via SPFS is about 1.5-2.5 rubles, while the tariff for transmitting a financial message via SWIFT can vary around 1.6-2.7 rubles per message. The price of connecting to SWIFT is in the tens of thousands of dollars, while the SPFS connects financial structures for free, and there is no service fee.

2024: Integration with Iran's financial messaging system

Russia and Iran integrated their systems for transmitting financial messages, thanks to which the countries were able to completely abandon SWIFT. This was announced in January 2024 by the Deputy Head of the Central Bank of Iran for International Affairs Mohsen Karimi.

We have connected the messaging systems of the two countries to each other. This means that the banks of the two countries no longer need Switzerland to communicate with each other and commercial banks of both states can establish intermediary relations with each other. The exporter can bill the Russian side in the rials and receive money from Russian banks in Iran, - said Karimi (quoted by RIA Novosti).

Russia and Iran have integrated their financial messaging systems

According to him, the Russian side can pay the invoice in rials through the banks of the Russian Federation in Iran. Exporters of both states can conduct transactions in their national currencies, the Iranian representative said.

It is assumed that connecting to the Russian financial messaging system (SPFS) will allow Iran to connect not only to 700 Russian, but also to 106 foreign banks in 13 countries.

Earlier in 2023, RFAndrey Deputy Foreign Minister Rudenko said that Russia and Iran continue to cooperate in the banking sector, intending to further increase the shares of national currencies in settlements.

The head of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Farzin, said at the end of December that a currency agreement between Iran and Russia, which will allow trading in rubles and rials, will be signed in the first quarter of 2024.

At the end of December 2023, the Iranian bank opened a foreign letter of credit for importing goods from Russia. The amount of the letter of credit is €17 million. At the same time, Russia and Iran agreed to open a credit line in the amount of 6.5 billion rubles for Iran's import of necessary goods from Russia.^[1]

2023

Double traffic growth

The traffic of the Bank of Russia Financial Messaging System (SPFS) doubled in 2023. The regulator announced this in its report published in March 2024.

According to the Central Bank, the SPFS is the main channel for the exchange of financial information when conducting domestic settlements on correspondent accounts. The regulator also pointed to high interest in the SPFS from foreign participants. According to statistics from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, 58 foreign banks have joined the system. As a result, at the end of the year, non-residents accounted for more than a quarter of SPFS users - 159 foreign organizations from 20 countries. Non-resident users in 2023 sent 2.2 times more financial messages in comparison with 2022.

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In 2023, the Central Bank obliged all Russian banks to use the SPFS or similar Russian systems when exchanging financial information on domestic Russian operations. All participants in the Bank of Russia payment system and SPFS have implemented information protection tools transferred by the Bank of Russia that implement bilateral authentication and encryption of information. Encryption of communication channels is implemented using cryptographic algorithms determined by national standards of the Russian Federation.

For the same purpose, as reported in the report of the Central Bank, a standard has been approved that establishes uniform rules for the formation, storage and use of unique digital fingerprints of devices and a set of parameters for unambiguously identifying the user's device with which banking and other financial transactions are carried out. Thanks to this, banks can identify in advance the devices of intruders that were noticed earlier during suspicious transactions, and block transactions without customer requests.

CBR Report 2023

4 more countries joined the SPFS of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

In the fourth quarter of 2023, companies and banks from four more countries joined the Financial Messaging System (SPFS). Such data in mid-January 2024 was cited by the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, Vladimir Chistyukhin.

According to him, 159 non-residents from 20 countries are among the banks and companies connected to the SPFS (557 of them in total). In early December 2023, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation reported 150 non-residents from 16 countries, and a year earlier there were just over 100.

Companies and banks from four more countries joined the SPFS

In November 2023, the Bank of Russia disclosed that by the end of 2023 it expects an increase in the number of SPFS member states to 18 countries. In February 2023, Alla Bakina, director of the national payment system department of the Central Bank, spoke about 14 participating countries.

According to Maxim Osadchy, head of the analytical department of BKF Bank, by the beginning of 2024, about 500 thousand financial messages a day pass through the SPFS, and about 44 million through SWIFT.

Capital Lab partner Yevgeny Shatov, in a conversation with Izvestia, noted that SPFS does not depend on the international situation and allows banking organizations to conduct all financial transactions in Russia without any restrictions. According to experts, the main purpose of the system is to send, verify messages about the transfer of funds, as well as identify counterparties making the transfer.

The SPFS system has a number of advantages, in particular, it provides the ability to independently send and receive financial messages in SWIFT, ISO 20022 or native formats with attachments up to 5 MB without the services of foreign providers and intermediary banks. This is quite convenient, since banks do not need to reconfigure their internal automatic systems for some new format, but only redirect data to another gateway, "Shatov said.[2]

Traffic growth by 4 times

According to the results of the first quarter of 2023, traffic in the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) quadrupled compared to the same period in 2022 and reached more than 40 million messages. Such data at the end of October 2023 were cited by the Bank of Russia.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the regulator's materials, by the end of September 2023, about 550 organizations use the SPFS, including 150 non-residents from more than 15 countries. In early September 2023, the regulator reported 514 participants, including 131 non-residents from 15 countries.

Traffic in the Financial Messaging System (FMS) quadrupled

The Central Bank does not disclose other countries whose banks have connected to the system. According to the publication, among them are players from China, India and Arab countries. Initially, the platform was intended only for domestic users, but subsequently more than 20 Belarusian banks, credit organizations from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba and other countries joined it.

Earlier, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Skorobogatova cited data according to which in January-May 2023 the number of operations in the SPFS increased 4.6 times compared to a year ago and amounted to 82 million messages. According to the draft document on the main directions of development of the financial market of the Russian Federation for 2024-2026, under the conditions of the sanctions, the SPFS plays a key role as a reliable and secure channel for the exchange of payment information for banks.

In my opinion, in the domestic market, SPFS should completely replace SWIFT, "Viktor Dostov, head of the Association of Electronic Money and Money Transfer Market Participants, told the publication. - For international calculations, the use of the SPFS is a political question: if countries are ready, correspondent accounts are open, why not.[3]

Completion of integration of the systems of Russia and Belarus

Belarus and Russia have completed the integration of national systems for the rapid transmission of financial messages. This was announced at the end of June 2023 by the Ambassador of Belarus to the Russian Federation Dmitry Krutoy.

As for the Swift type system: the pairing of national systems for the rapid transmission of financial messages between Russia and Belarus is ensured. As part of the last visit to Minsk, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, the parties stated that, in principle, the Union program in this part has been completed, "he said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

Belarus and Russia have completed the integration of national systems for the rapid transmission of financial messages

According to Krutoy, the central banks of Russia and Belarus have shown an example to all industry regulators how to work without much information noise, but solving all problems. Now the national banks of the two countries need to concentrate on overseeing payment systems, the Belarusian ambassador to Russia believes.

In April 2023, the head of the Belarusian National Bank, Pavel Kallaur, during a speech at a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic, said that the Russian Federation and Belarus had fully implemented three union programs in the banking sector.

The National Bank has seven union programs related to the banking system. At this stage, three programs have been fully implemented (in the field of currency regulation, information security and anti-money laundering legislation), he said, adding that by mid-August 2023, the remaining four programs were at the final stage.

As a result of the implementation of integration documents, an increase in the level of availability, quality and set of financial services, an increase in fair competition and an increase in business activity in the financial market are expected, "Pavel Kallaur said then.[4]

Integration with Iran's banking system

In January 2023, Russia and Iran signed an agreement on facilitating banking operations: SPFS of the Bank of Russia and SEPAM of the Central Bank of Iran are now united, and a direct connection has been established between the banks of the countries.

As part of the agreement, Iran's banking network will also be directly linked to 106 foreign non-Russian banks.

2022: Traffic growth by a quarter

In mid-November 2022, the Bank of Russia reported a tangible increase in traffic in the Financial Messaging System (SPFS, an analogue of SWIFT), to which more than 440 participants are connected, of which more than 100 non-residents from 12 countries.

Our Financial Messaging System - our analogue of SWIFT - continuously serves banks within the country. The system has been working fully for several years, but this year, when a number of banks from Swift were disconnected, traffic to the SPFS grew by almost a quarter and may continue to grow, we have no problems with this, - said the head of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina, speaking in the State Duma on November 15, 2022.

Traffic of the Russian analogue SWIFT has grown

In early November 2022, Vedomosti announced that the Russian Government was developing a new mechanism for settlements with counterparties from one of the friendly countries. The new system will be based on the docking of the Financial Messaging System (FMS) and its national counterparts in other states.

The docking of national settlement systems will simplify the use of the platform for banks of counterparty countries, since the work will be carried out on the basis of the national payment infrastructure, the source explained to the newspaper. Traditionally, docking takes place using network gateways that transcode payment messages from the format of one settlement system to the format of another. The implementation of the proposal will require investments - both financial and technological, the official told the newspaper, without specifying the cost of creating such a system.

Iranian banks, in particular, are connected to the Russian analogue of SWIFT, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on November 1, 2022. According to him, in the summer a roadmap was signed between two central banks - Russia and Iran, work is planned on it related to the opening of accounts, the determination of authorized banks, the connection of companies and banks to the system. Information about banks participating in the SPFS is no longer published on the Bank of Russia website.^[5]

2020

Working out a mechanism for connecting the system with friendly countries

In November 2022, the Russian authorities are working on a mechanism that will allow docking the SWIFT analogue - the Central Bank's Financial Messaging System - with national payment platforms in "friendly" countries. First, it will be launched for settlements with counterparties in one of the countries. Experts do not see any particular difficulties in integrating national interbank exchange systems if they were created according to international standards.

Connecting 19 foreign banks and legal entities to the SPFS

On May 6, 2021, it was reported that the number of banks and legal entities connected to the Bank of Russia Financial Messaging System in 2020 increased from 391 to 404. By the beginning of 2021, 19 non-residents were connected to it, in particular, the Bank of Russia said in its annual report sent to the State Duma.

In 2020, the number of messages transmitted through SPFS doubled, amounting to 20.6% of domestic Russian traffic in SWIFT, according to the annual report.

SPFS provides transmission and control of financial messages in SWIFT formats, transmission of messages in the client's own formats, setting up a list of counterparties and types of financial messages received from them.^[6]

Belarusian banks switch to SPFS Service Bureau

On November 27, 2020, it became known that the Belarusian banks they received from National Bank a letter with a request to ensure connection the Russian to the SPFS Service Bureau system - this is the Russian system for transmitting financial messages, which is an analogue of the international system. SWIFT

By default, almost all banks in the world operate through SWIFT; with its help, transactions occur between banks in leading currencies.

Шаблон:Quote 'Turning off SWIFT is one of the possible, but not particularly real sanctions that opponents of the Lukashenka regime are talking about, the source notes.

If any Belarusian banks fall under sanctions restricting their access to international transfer systems, they will be able to establish payments through Russian banks, says Belarusian economist Ekaterina Bornukova.

The National Bank itself told the newspaper that there were still several banks not connected to the SPFS in Belarus.

The Bank of Russia Financial Messaging Service Bureau on the basis of the Belarusian Interbank Settlement Center OJSC, which was created to provide banks and non-bank credit and financial institutions with services for the transmission of SWIFT financial messages by non-residents of Belarus, was created and put into commercial operation on November 29, 2019.

As of November 2020, 7 Belarusian banks are already users of the SPFS Service Bureau, 5 banks are at the final stage of connection. Other banks are considering the possibilities and assessing the internal resources and readiness of their systems for connecting to the SPFS Service Bureau, the press service of the National Bank of Belarus reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a meeting with Belarusian self-proclaimed President Alexander Lukashenko, promised him comprehensive assistance and support^[7].

NSD received the status of the service bureau of the Bank of Russia SPFS

On May 19, 2020, the National Settlement Depository (NSD) received the status of the Service Bureau of the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) of the Bank of Russia. Read more here.

2019

The Russian analogue of SWIFT began to be used 2.4 times more often

The financial messaging system (SPFS) in 2019 began to be used much more often than a year earlier. Thus, the number of messages transmitted through the technology created by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in response to the risks of a possible disconnection of Russian banks from the international SWIFT system increased 2.4 times, according to the regulator's annual report.

By January 1, 2020, the SPFS had 391 users. In 2019, the system participants sent about 12.9 million messages, of which almost 90% were messages in the "One-time client transfer" MT103 format.

The number of messages transmitted through the Russian analogue of SWIFT increased in 2019 compared to the previous year by 2.4 times

It also follows from the report that as part of the development of the SPFS, the regulator in 2019 implemented the provision of services for the transmission of financial messages to the SPFS daily and around the clock ( 24/7/365), expanded the composition of SPFS users by connecting clients of banks - legal entities , as well as foreign credit institutions.

In addition, a new scheme for connecting to the SPFS has been launched, which allows organizing the transfer of financial information to third parties, a new service has been launched that allows using messages from the international standard ISO 20022 when banks and their clients - legal entities interact through the SPFS.

First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Olga Skorobogatova said that by February 2020, 10 foreign banks were connected to the SPFS system.

Now we are going through all stages of testing with them in order to be able to work on an integrated system at the interstate level: from our side - SPFS, from other countries - this is directly their message transmission system , "she said.

Foreign banks were able to connect to the SPFS in mid-2019 after the State Duma, the Federation Council and the president approved the relevant amendments.^[8]

The Central Bank chose a partner for the development of the SPFS

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).

In particular, he said that the service bureau represented by NSD will take care of those organizations for which the services of the Central Bank are expensive, inconvenient, complex, and will connect them cheaper and faster. As of November 18, according to a representative of the Central Bank, this service is being tested.

According to sources familiar with the situation, NSD will pay only approved tariffs for messages to the Central Bank for working as a service bureau, and tariffs for service bureau customers will be the same as for direct participants in the SPFS. It is possible that NSD will earn money by converting formats and redirecting messages between different networks through a single interface.

Central Bank of Venezuela may switch to the Russian analogue of SWIFT

On July 17, 2019, it became known that Venezuela could switch to the Russian analogue of SWIFT if US sanctions were imposed against it, Bloomberg reported. We are talking about the domestic financial messaging system (SPFS). Read more here.

2018

Growth in the number of financial messages to 5.4 million

On May 8, 2019, it became known that, according to the annual report of the Bank of Russia, the number of financial messages in the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) in 2018 increased by 2 times compared to 2017 and amounted to 5.4 million. In total, the financial messaging system in 2018 consisted of 403 participants.

In addition, the document says that for the development of Russian its analogue SWIFT , the Bank Russia in 2018 prepared to connect foreign credit organizations to it. According to the director of the national department, payment system CENTRAL BANK Alla Bakinoy agreements have been concluded on connecting to the SPFS with two non-residents, and agreements are being agreed with five^[9] have been^[10]

First Foreign Member

The Bank of Russia financial messaging system, which is the Russian counterpart of SWIFT, announced in November 20189 the first foreign participant.  Belgazprombank, owned by Gazprom and Gazprombank, became a participant The ^[11]. Alla Bakina, Director of the Department of the National Payment System of the Bank of Russia, announced this at the VI National Payment Forum.

"We already have the first foreign client with whom such an agreement has been concluded, and now interaction with him is already being carried out on technical aspects," A. Bakina said, without specifying which bank is in question, RBC writes

The representative of the Central Bank added that the regulator interacts with market participants from other countries. "We hope that our customer base will expand at the expense of foreign participants," A. Bakina emphasized.

SPFS will be transferred to blockchain in 2019

In 2019, the Central Bank intends to transfer the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) - the Russian analogue of SWIFT - to the blockchain, Izvestia reported on May 4, 2018, citing a source close to the Bank of Russia. The information was confirmed by two bankers familiar with the situation.

According to the source, the purpose of transferring SPFS to blockchain is to ensure high protection of financial transactions. As you know, data from the distributed registry cannot be deleted, and information is automatically updated from all system participants with each change made, he explained.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation will transfer SPFS to blockchain. Photo: dg-yug.ru

The Bank of Russia has not yet decided on the choice of a platform - a source close to the Central Bank found it difficult to clarify whether the regulator will use its own development on the blockchain or the existing Etherium platform for SPFS. According to the Central Bank, Izvestia is still considering various options for using the technology of distributed registers, including for transmitting financial messages. A representative of the regulator declined to comment further.

SPFS is used by Russian banks and companies both as a backup channel for the exchange of financial messages and transactions, and as an alternative to SWIFT, when it is economically justified, the Central Bank said. As of May, the cost of one message through the SPFS is about 1.5-2 rubles, while the tariff for transmission through SWIFT can vary around 0.03-0.05 euros per message.

According to experts, the technology of distributed registers optimizes the protection of the SPFS and will ensure the transparency of transactions, which, in turn, will increase interest in the system from banks and companies. In particular, if distributed register technology is used, the Russian system may become even more reliable than SWIFT, believes Teletrade chief analyst Pyotr Pushkarev.

The use of blockchain technology will undoubtedly increase the level of protection of the SPFS in relation to hacker attacks, "said Maxim Osadchy, head of the analytical department of the BKF bank. - This is especially true given that a number of banks, including the Russian Globex, have become victims of hacker attacks through the SWIFT system[12]

Rostec announced the completion of the transition to the Russian analogue of the SWIFT system

On April 14, 2018, information appeared that Rostec and the Bank of Russia were switching to the national Bank of Russia Financial Messaging System (SPFS). Joining the State Corporation to the SPFS will increase the security of financial transactions and create an alternative channel for the exchange of financial messages in Russia.

Joining the SPFS allows the State Corporation to use the SPFS as a channel for the exchange of financial information between the system participants, for example, between the bank and the State Corporation or between Rostec subsidiaries. The digital infrastructure will help to exchange data between enterprises of the State Corporation in encrypted mode, which reduces the risk of external intrusion into the system and the likelihood of hacker attacks.

"We are certainly interested in improving the security of data transmission and exchange both within the corporation and outside - with Russian financial organizations. This initiative reduces dependence on foreign systems and makes it possible to exchange information with our enterprises in a secure format without using the capacities of foreign providers, "said Igor Zavyalov, Deputy General Director of Rostec State Corporation

More than 600 Rostec organizations have implemented and are using the system of the Unified Corporate Treasury (AS ECC), in the database of which there are more than 40 thousand bank accounts. At the 20 largest enterprises of the pilot circuit, pilot operation of the comprehensive automated system of financial and procurement activities (AS FZD) of the full cycle is underway.

The use of the Bank of Russia SPFS will allow Rostec organizations to improve security and reliability in financial transactions, increase the speed of transmission of financial messages, and reduce costs. At the moment, the project is being discussed with the participation of representatives of Rostec subsidiaries -, Novikombank the companies "" and RT-FinanceRT-Inform"," as well as the Russian developer of computer programs and business databases - the company 1C"."

2014: Launch of the SPFS

In working mode, the SPFS was launched in December 2014. The project was implemented after in September 2014, at the level of the European Parliament, they began to discuss the idea of ​ ​ disconnecting Russian banks from SWIFT, later the foreign ministers of European states also considered this option.

As a result, Russian banks did not disconnect from SWIFT, and SPFS exists as an alternative system for transferring information and making payments. More than 9 thousand banks from 209 countries of the world are connected to SWIFT.

See also

• National Payment Card System (NSPK)
• SWIFT

Notes