Russian now have an opportunity to send money to the near abroad countries through the faster payment system (SBP).

Izvestiya says customers of Tinkoff now can send money to banks in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member nations.

Other Russian loaning agencies are also establishing cross-border money transfers through the faster payment system.  

According to experts, this service will be relevant primarily for labor migrants and Russians who left the country.

According to the Bank of Russia, the Faster Payments System (SBP) is a service that allows individuals to make interbank transfers using a mobile phone number. It operates 24/7/365. Transfer fees are either low or zero.  The Bank of Russia notes that more than 200 banks, including the largest ones, have already been connected to the system.  SBP users can receive payments from organizations and pay for purchases using QR codes or other instruments.

SBP was jointly developed by the Bank of Russia and the National Payment Card System (NSPK).  The Bank of Russia is the operator and settlement center of SBP, and NSPK acts as the operations and payment clearing center.

In order to transfer money between your and/or another person’s accounts in different banks using a mobile phone number, the sender’s and recipient’s banks need to be connected to SBP.  The transfers are executed via mobile applications or online banking (please contact your credit institution for more information).

You can use your smartphone, tablet or computer to pay for purchases via mobile applications of banks connected to SBP.  Before paying, make sure the seller supports this payment method.

A legal entity can transfer money to a customer identified with a phone number via SBP. The mechanism is used to make payments or refunds for purchases made earlier.  The transfer is possible if the sender’s and recipient’s banks are both connected to SBP.