Russia Confirms 12 Major Banks Ready for Digital Ruble Launch on September 1

According to Alla Bakina, Director of the Bank of Russia's National Payment System Department, 12 major banks are ready to launch digital ruble services on September 1, with all major participants in the nationwide pilot now connected and prepared for rollout.

The digital ruble will operate across a 9-million-outlet QR payment network encompassing 200 banks. Russian Treasury Secretary Roman Artyukhin stated the federal infrastructure is fully operational, noting the government has already received 35,000 rubles in digital form during testing. Pavel Potanin, Deputy General Director of the National Payment Card System, confirmed the universal QR system infrastructure is ready to support digital ruble transactions on schedule.