Russia mandates major banks and businesses to accept digital ruble

• Companies with annual revenues exceeding 120 million rubles must accept the asset.
• Citizens are not required to use the digital ruble.

Russia began to mandatorily implement the use of the digital ruble from September 1, 2026, for major financial entities and large commercial establishments in the country. The provision requires 12 commercial banks and companies to accept payments through this new modality of the national currency.

The mandatory adoption aims to integrate the central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly by the financial regulator into the commercial infrastructure of the country, although authorities clarified that its use by individuals remains voluntary.

Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, delineated the scope of the regulation by specifying that the digital ruble will be mandatory for banks and commercial establishments that must accept it, that is, for the infrastructure, but not for citizens.

This legal requirement covers the major credit institutions in the country, including Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, Gazprombank, and T-Bank, entities that concentrate more than 80% of the Russian payment market. These institutions must ensure the opening of digital wallets, as well as facilitate transfers and payment processing, reported the Bank of Russia.

Meanwhile, businesses engaged in retail sales that reported revenues exceeding 120 million rubles the previous year must accept the digital currency if by January 1, 2026, they had an acquiring contract --- the service for processing electronic payments --- with a significant bank.

Temporarily exempt from this obligation are businesses that register revenues of less than 5 million rubles per year and those points of sale located in areas without internet access. The integration of the remaining actors will be executed in consecutive phases: on September 1, 2027, banks with universal licenses and companies with revenues exceeding 30 million rubles will be added, while on September 1, 2028, the rest of the businesses will be incorporated.

For individual users, sending money to the digital wallet from a regular bank account has a limit set at 300,000 rubles per month. Once the funds are deposited on the platform, there are no restrictions on spending or the amount of transfers. Transactions and transfers between individuals are exempt from fees. Commercial enterprises will also not pay fees for the rest of 2026; starting in 2027, a fee of 0.3% will apply.

As authorities indicated, digital funds do not appear on the banks' balance sheets but on the Bank of Russia's platform. They do not generate interest, do not allow deposits or loans, and do not have traditional deposit insurance. All operations are visible to the regulator and the Russian financial authority.

As reported by CriptoNoticias, the entry into force of the digital ruble coincides directly with the start of the new state regulation for the cryptocurrency market in Russia, previously approved by the State Duma. This legal regulatory framework recognizes digital currencies as property and channels the exchange through licensed intermediaries under the direct supervision of the Bank of Russia.

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