VTB to introduce currency transfers to Turkey and India by year-end

MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) - VTB intends to more than double the number of available countries for cross-border transfers by individuals by the end of the year, with India and Turkey as key new destinations, the bank said in a statement citing Anatoly Pechatnikov, deputy chairman of the board.

Currently, retail customers can transfer money abroad to 11 countries. By the end of the year, the bank plans to increase the number of available destinations by 2.5 times, including through transfers to India and Turkey. The scenario of cross-border transactions in Indian rupees and Turkish lira will be identical to the current transactions in national currencies.

"VTB is actively developing the area of cross-border transfers in soft currencies, which have become one of the main trends in the new Russian economy. In less than a year since the launch of the service, we have opened more than 10 corridors that are most in demand by our clients. The number of cross-border transfers is multiplying and will continue to increase. "We continue to prepare an infrastructure solution that will simplify financial communication between countries. India and Turkey, with which our country has established partnership relations and where the tourist flow is now directed, will become the key areas of future development this year," Pechatnikov said.

Over the five months of 2023, VTB retail clients made more than 66,000 transfers abroad, which is 2.5 times more than in January-May last year. The most popular soft currencies for cross-border transfers were Belarusian rubles (43%), Kazakh tenge (39%) and Chinese yuan (14%). According to the bank's forecasts, by the end of the year, the share of transfers in soft currencies will exceed 90%, which is three times higher than in 2022. The rest will be occupied by cross-border transfers by phone number and to cards from national payment systems.