CBR aims to have Express Payment System working with several EAEU countries by end of 2023

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) plans to integrate its Express Payment System (EPS) with similar systems in several other Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries by the end of 2023, the draft guidelines for the development of Russia's financial market for 2023-2025 indicated.

Cross-border transfers using the EPS have already been carried out through one implementation scheme, the document said.

The CBR also plans to continue its dialog with partners on maintaining infrastructure for accepting Russia's Mir payment cards abroad and looking for alternative solutions.

In addition, as part of the development of the EPS there are plans to scale the possibility of making online payments to the Russian budget system (C2G service), including payment of taxes, fines, fees and duties.

There are also plans to launch a G2C service for government payments to citizens, enabling individuals to get such payments faster.

The CBR will also further expand the use of customer-to-business (C2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) services, which will significantly reduce costs for businesses.

The CBR also plans to develop the features and increase the number of participants in the SPFS financial messaging system by connecting the foreign partners of Russian organizations and expand the system's use, including with connections through a "service bureau."

The CBR on Friday published updated indicators of the development strategy for the national payment system, according to which the number of countries participating in the SPFS is supposed to grow from 15 this year to 18 in 2023.