Russia to Charge Commissions on Digital Ruble Transactions from 2025

The Bank of Russia yesterday (Thursday) revealed further details on its central bank digital currency (CBDC), including the symbol of the digital ruble and the commission structure.

Fees on Digital Ruble Transactions

The central bank will not charge any fees on digital rule transactions until the end of 2024. However, transaction charges will be imposed from 2025. It will cost 15 rubles ($0.16) for each B2B transaction, and for individuals, there will be a charge of 0.3 percent transaction charge for commercial account transfers and 0.2 percent for making payments to civil services.

As for the digital ruble logo, it makes use of the international digital ruble symbol inside a circle with four basic color combinations.

"The sign of the ruble is offset to the left and set in a circle that is positioned centrally. The vertical main line of the letter 'P' is located at a distance of 1/3 of the diameter and is connected to the circle, while the horizontal extensions also pass into the line of the circle," the official announcement added (translated from Russian).

"To ensure optimal legibility, the logo is always surrounded by a security field. No graphics, images, or text can fit in this space. The distance from the logo to other objects must not be less than the specified modulus."

Russia Moves Ahead with Digital Ruble

With its economy fractured by the Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has accelerated its efforts towards the digital ruble. President Vladimir Putin ratified a law last month that introduced the digital rubble.

Earlier, Russia indefinitely postponed pilot testing of the digital rubble which was initially scheduled to run in April. A pilot was planned to go live in partnership with 13 local banks. However, with presidential approval in place, the pilot, which will test the application of digital currency in real-life transactions, is expected to go live this month.

The Bank of Russia, which will operate the CBDC, clarified before that the digital ruble will not replace cash, and the two will co-exist. Also, the adoption of the digital ruble will not be forced on Russians. The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova also specified that the central bank is not executing mass adoption of the digital ruble before 2025 or even 2027.