The National System of Payment Cards of the Russian Federation was established on the basis of Federal Law No. 112 of May 5, 2014. The purpose of its formation is to ensure the availability, efficiency and continuity of the provision of services related to the transfer of funds. Let us further consider how the national system of payment cards of the Russian Federation operates.
Historical background
The creation of the National Payment System began in 1990. In 1992, interbank settlements began to be carried out using elements of the STB Card. By 1993, the Union Card payment system was formed. By 1999, it united 457 banking organizations and their divisions. Participants of the system issued more than 3,000,000 payment cards. At the end of 1993, the Golden Crown was formed. By 2014, this payment system united about 87 banks that issued more than 8 million cards. In October 1994, the Coordinating Committee was formed. The initiative to create it belonged to the MoscowGTU of the Bank of Russia. The Committee was formed primarily for the timely identification of problems in existing interbank settlements. This would make it possible to exert an effective influence on the elimination of difficulties, to provide an exchange of views with banking organizations regarding information interaction. One of the most important activities of the Committee was the formation and improvement of the system of plastic cards in Moscow.
Prerequisites for education
After analyzing the world experience, the Moscow State Technical University came to the conclusion that the Russian Federation has a unique opportunity, using international practice, primarily France, to take a shorter path. To do this, it was necessary to unite the efforts of banking organizations. The Moscow State Technical University saw its role in this process in coordinating the activities of the participants for the formation of a unified card system in Moscow. However, most of the largest banking organizations own a network of branches located in various regions of the Russian Federation. If they were combined, the payment system would acquire a national scale.
Working Group
Taking into account the current situation, the GTU of Moscow has moved the center of its activities to the executive body of the Bank of Russia. The Working Group consisted of more than twenty specialists. In addition to the Bank of Russia itself, they represented the Moscow State Technical University, the Association of Domestic Banking Organizations. The largest associations of the country were among the members of the Working Group. These included, in particular, Sberbank,"Agroprombank", "Inkombank", SBS-Agro "and others. The FAPSI Federal Agency also carried out its activities in the Working Group. Representatives of credit companies were predominantly in the executive body.
Lines of activity of the Working Group
The body's efforts were focused on solving the following tasks:
- Development of draft documentation of the Bank of the Russian Federation, which ensures the circulation and use of plastic elements for monetary transactions in the Russian Federation.
- Development of the National Payment System.
The draft documentation was developed and submitted for consideration to the management of the Bank of the Russian Federation. Subsequently (after the termination of the activities of the Working Group), it was finalized and approved. This document was the first act through which the National Payment Card System (NSPK) was regulated. With regard to the second question, the active activity of the Working Group fell on mid-1996. At that moment, the authority entered the stage of development and formation of a pilot project, according to which the National Payment Card System was to operate. The NSPK, according to experts from the World Monetary Fund, would require $5 million. These funds should have been enough to implement the network. Under the terms of the Monetary Fund, 50% of the specified amount was allocated directly by them, and the remaining half should be attracted by the Russian Federation from its sources. Credit companies that were present in the Working Group at thatmoment, they were ready to finance 50% of the project. They confirmed their consent by official letters. But, since the leadership of the Bank of the Russian Federation decided to focus its efforts on developing other areas for the development of the payment system, by mid-1996 the functioning of other bodies under the International Committee, as well as the Working Group itself, was terminated. Management efforts were primarily focused on the formation of projects for the transfer of large amounts and mass transactions with money.
2000s
In order for the National Payment System of Russia to start functioning, a regulatory framework was needed. At the time of the beginning of the development of projects, it was not. In this regard, in the early 2000s a number of laws were passed. However, several important points were lost in the approval process. At the next stage, the task of financing the project was no longer there. However, banks could not come to a consensus about who exactly would receive profit from it. Not a single organization wanted to give up a huge market. This sector generated significant revenue from transaction fees. While the Russian banks were negotiating, the market was divided by the international payment systems Master Card and Visa. Some domestic financial companies have formed partnership groups. The clients of these banks were served at the ATMs of the entire association. The largest group is the United Settlement Network. ATMs of about 100 banks participate in it.
National payment system of Russia: the next stage
In 2010, a federal law was developed to regulate the provision of municipal and state services. Its norms provided that the National Payment System of Russia would begin to operate, and the processing of domestic transactions abroad would be prohibited. However, members of the American embassy in Moscow drew attention to this fact. It became clear to them that if the bill was left unchanged, Master Card and Visa would lose a market with a revenue of about $4 billion. On this occasion, the ambassadors drafted a dispatch addressed to high-ranking American government officials. In the text, the employees recommended taking advantage of meetings with colleagues from the Russian Federation in order to put pressure on the latter to change the bill. Thus, guarantees would be provided for the protection of the interests of American companies, and the possibility of causing damage to them would be excluded. The published act did not prohibit the processing of domestic transactions abroad.
FZ "On the National Payment System"
It was adopted in 2011. The Federal Law "On the National Payment System" describes the network as a set of operators making money transfers. The Law establishes the basic concepts, regulates the procedure for the provision of relevant services. The normative act determined the rules according to which the National Payment System should operate. The network structure was formedbased on the requirements set out in the law. At the same time, the order in which supervision and coordination would be carried out was determined. However, the Federal Law did not provide for the creation of a system of domestic payment cards and a ban on processing Russian transactions abroad.
Important decisions
They were adopted in 2011. These decisions concerned the creation of an electronic universal card, excluding the participation in this process of the international systems "Master Card" and "Visa". At the same time, Sberbank promised to take measures to neutralize "the lobbyists of these networks in the authorities of the Russian Federation." By the beginning of 2013, the Central Bank had formed a register of operators. All payment systems that worked in Russia were included in this database. Among them were singled out those that had a special social significance. These included, in particular: Contact, VTB and Sberbank networks, Zolotaya Korona, Master Card, Visa.
2014
In March of this year, the United States imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the inclusion of Crimea into the latter. For the second time in history, Master Card and Visa stopped servicing cards of a number of domestic banks in some ATMs and outlets of the international network. In this regard, the question arose again that the Russian Federation should have its own National Payment System. Russia needs its own network, independent of the state of relations on the world stage. In this regard, the preparation of a number of amendments to the adopted Law was started. They have tocontributed to the informational and infrastructural closure of the process of money transfers within the Russian Federation. This means that clearing and transaction centers - the subjects of the National Payment System - must be located directly on the territory of the country. At the same time, the Law provides for a ban on providing access and transfer of information to foreign countries to information about domestic transactions in the Russian Federation.
At the end of March 2014, an active discussion began on the implementation of the necessary measures. President V. V. Putin approved the formation of the National System, ordering it to be developed and implemented as soon as possible.
