The Central Bank proposed to force banks to use a universal NSPK QR code

The universal QR code will allow accepting all types of payments, including through bank payment solutions (for example, T-Pay from T-Bank), the Fast Payment System (FPS) and “in the future” using the digital ruble , they say. specified in the Bank of Russia. The solution will also “provide support for credit institution loyalty programs and refunds,” said the Central Bank.

The introduction of the tool “will minimize the costs of banks and commercial companies to connect different payment instruments” and “will promote the development of competition in this area, in addition to providing large and small banks with the same conditions for connecting to the NSPK infrastructure and interact with it,” says the regulator.

NSPK’s universal QR code is now working in trial format. Currently 20 credit institutions are participating in the pilot project, 15 of which are already making payments. Among them are VTB, Sovcombank and Dom.RF. At the same time, a consortium including Sberbank, Alfa-Bank and T-Bank is creating its own unique QR code.

For the first time, the Central Bank proposed to introduce a universal QR code in November 2023. The regulator’s first vice president, Olga Skorobogatova, then explained that many QR codes on checkouts can confuse customers and make cashless payments difficult, and such a tool can solve the problem. Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina announced plans to make a universal QR code mandatory in September.

In October, the president of the Central Bank urged not to present the regulator’s discussion with banks on a universal QR code as a “battle” for control of the financial market. The universal QR code, according to Nabiullina, does not compete with products on the market, but should become an “infrastructure standard.”