Dmitry Medvedev: “The national card payment system is expected to be a state-of-the-art solution; it should depend as little as possible on international developments, thus ensuring uninterrupted operation across the country.”
Opening remarks by Dmitry Medvedev:
Meeting on the creation of a national card payment system
Colleagues, we have scheduled this meeting to discuss the creation of the national card payment system. Today, we’ll discuss proposals aimed at making this system available and efficient. It goes without saying that this system is expected to be a state-of-the-art solution and should depend as little as possible on international developments, thus ensuring uninterrupted operation across the country.
Dmitry Medvedev: "The Bank of Russia has formed a working group with the participation of government agencies, lending organisations and bank associations focusing on creating a national card payment system."
This is actually a very important issue, as recent developments have shown. We have already started working on it. A working group was established by the Bank of Russia, bringing together representatives of government agencies, credit organisations and bank associations. We have also met in various formats to discuss this issue.
We have a general law on the creation of the national payment system. However, there is no doubt that it should be amended in line with the objectives that we are about to address. The new payment card is expected to help participating banks diversify the risks and cut the costs associated with using international payment systems inside Russia. It is crucial to enhance the confidentiality of payment data, as well as the reliability of interbank transactions via the national payment system.
Dmitry Medvedev: "The new payment card is expected to help participating banks diversify the risks and cut the costs associated with using international payment systems inside Russia."
Of course, all international payment systems are convenient, and everybody is used to them. However, they don’t shine when it comes to confidentiality and carry a number of other risks, including political ones. I hope that the cards that will be issued in Russia will be able to compete with international payment systems in the future. What I mean is that they are expected to be competitive within the Russian economy. For this reason, the project will be beneficial to Russian consumers by creating new possibilities, so that people feel protected no matter what happens.
Meeting on the creation of a national card payment system
There are a number of objectives in this respect. First, a legal basis should be created, that is, amendments should be made to the existing law on the national payment system. It should be about strengthening the accountability of payment system operators, above all, in terms of financial liability under civil law, by binding them to ensure uninterrupted operation of the payment system and to inform the Bank of Russia and payment system participants of the eventual occurrence of any force majeure circumstances that make cash transfers impossible.
Second, we should find the best model for creating the system. Our colleagues have been working on this issue lately, and we have already discussed these efforts. There has been much talk on this subject recently with active input from the media. Current discussions have been focussed on such questions as what are the best and worst systems and what shortcomings are inherent to one or another solution. It goes without saying that all such discussions and superficial. That said, there are two possible approaches: either building the system using existing products and technologies, which we fortunately have, or establishing a start-up of sorts to develop this project from the ground up. Naturally, both options have their pros and cons. In the first case, we already have an operating infrastructure for the Russian payment system, so creating a system from the ground up would be challenging, but it enables us to address some other objectives. For this reason, I would like to have an open and frank conversation with you on both approaches.
Dmitry Medvedev: "I hope that the cards that will be issued in Russia will be able to compete with international payment systems in the future. What I mean is that they are expected to be competitive within the Russian economy. For this reason, the project will be beneficial to Russian consumers by creating new possibilities, so that people feel protected no matter what happens."
There are also a number of options to choose from with respect to establishing the card payment system’s operator and determining its status. We should also discuss the main features and control mechanisms, including oversight by the Bank of Russia and federal government bodies.
This is what today’s meeting will be all about. Let’s get down to discussing these issues.
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