VTB to transfer online bank from Telegram to VK as of July

MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - VTB plans to transfer its online bank from Telegram to the VKontakte social network starting on July 1, the credit institution's press service told Interfax.

"VTB sees prospects in the rapid development of domestic services, so we are focusing on developing the platform in VKontakte, thus we are transferring the digital bank in Telegram to it [VKontakte] beginning on July 1," the press service said.

Meantime, clients retain access to the bank's chat bot in Telegram in order to receive financial advice, VTB noted.

VTB Digital Bank launched in VK Messenger at the end of April, when VTB reported that it would allow performing and completing most of the popular operations without exiting VKontakte. Clients currently access it once a week on average, with the most popular services being balance checks (90%), and funds transfers via Faster Payments System (SBP) (60%). There are plans going forward to implement the opportunity to render payments through it, including using a QR code.

VTB began providing services through the Telegram online bank in January, with the channel serving as an alternative to the bank's mobile app, which was removed from the AppStore and Google Play following the United States' imposing blocking sanctions against VTB. The bank's operations in Telegram came into question once the law prohibiting financial institutions from utilizing foreign instant messenger services to transmit payment orders, as well as information on transfers and other data, had come into force on March 1.