The first transfers in digital rubles were carried out

In the statement made by the Central Bank of Russia, it was stated that the Central Bank and market participants began testing the digital ruble platform.

"The first transfers in digital rubles between citizens' accounts were successfully carried out," the statement included.

The process of prototyping the digital ruble platform was completed in December 2021. Russia's leading banks, Ak Bars, Alfa-Bank, Dom.RF, VTB, Gazprombank, Tinkoff-Bank, Promsvyazbank, Rosbank, Sberbank, SKB-Bank, Soyuz and Transcapitalbank took part in testing the platform.

On the platform under the control of the Central Bank of Russia, customers will be able to transact on them through financial institutions after creating a digital wallet.

At a press conference, Olga Skorobogatova, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, noted at a press conference that such transfers will be free for citizens and can be made in any region of the country.

Skorobogatova stated that the digital ruble will contribute to reducing the spending of businesses and creating innovative products and services, adding that "The state will have a new tool for targeted payments and management of budget payments."

In the process, which will take place in several stages throughout the year, it is planned to put the digital ruble into circulation, open wallets, and test transfers in the first stage. In the second phase, payments for goods and services, payments for utilities, smart contracts, and interaction with the federal treasury will be tested. In the next phases, offline payments without internet access, interaction with financial intermediaries and digital platforms, and transactions for non-resident customers will also be tested.

After the tests that will continue until the end of the year, the roadmap for the digital ruble project will be created.

In the mobile application of Promsvyazbank, specially developed for testing, the client registered as a user on the digital ruble platform, opened a wallet, and exchanged non-cash rubles from the bank account with digital ones. The test resulted in a successful transfer from the wallet of the client of Promsvyazbank to the wallet of the client of VTB through the platform of the Bank of Russia.