According to the new regulation approved by the Bank of Russia, banks will be allowed to block digital ruble transactions for up to two days in case of fraud. This measure will start on February 23, 2025, to enhance the defense against scams in the emerging Russian CBDC environment.
According to the new regulation, if a transaction is performed using the digital ruble, the bank will inform the customer about possible fraud. Customers will then be given 24 hours to confirm or decline the transaction. If no response is given, the money will be retained in the customer’s electronic purse.
“Banks will be required to suspend client instructions for transactions with digital rubles for two days if they show signs of fraud.”
The Bank of Russia
For the central bank, such measures are similar to those provided for conventional payment systems to maintain compliance with various transaction types. They demonstrate the Bank of Russia’s readiness to protect citizens and organizations as it moves to build a new digital financial framework.
Russia Plans Gradual Rollout of Digital Ruble Nationwide
The Central Bank of Russia has been experimenting with the digital ruble since August this year. The main version is scheduled to be integrated across the country in mid-2025.
According to Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, people can use the CBDC when the pilot projects show good results. If these trials continue successfully, the larger trial could start by July 2025. But she also said shifting to full digital rubles would take several years.
In an October 2020 consultation paper, the Bank of Russia clarified that the digital ruble would supplement the cash and non-cash ruble currencies and would not replace them. This paves the way for Russia, whose approach toward the adoption of digital currencies falls somewhere between conservative and liberal.
The move comes as Russia seeks to beef up its digital ruble plans, partly in light of China’s swift advancement in using its central bank digital currency, the digital Yuan. In Changshu state, China has started paying civil servants in digital Yuan to encourage using the state-issued currency.
Though the approaches to and speed of implementing the concept are vastly dissimilar, the similarities demonstrate that CBDCs extend worldwide as countries search for stable, state-backed forms of money to traditional financial systems.
The recent directive issued by the Bank of Russia also revealed the need to implement strong anti-fraud mechanisms into the digital currency scheme. Through this measure, the central bank aims to establish the population’s confidence in the digital ruble while safely continuing its adoption with interim transaction suspensions and alerts to the bank’s clients.
The new measures also emphasize innovation and security as Russia prepares for the broader adoption of the CBDC, the digital ruble, in the future, which will help build a strong foundation for its financial systems.
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