Russia's three largest telecommunications operators have successfully launched digital ruble payments from September 1 as the country completes its nationwide central bank digital currency rollout. According to reports from Vedomosti, MTS, Rostelecom and MegaFon have completed their technical preparations and are now actively accepting digital ruble transactions across their services. MTS is supporting digital ruble transactions across all services integrated with MTS Pay, while Rostelecom is offering the payment option for one-time website payments and MegaFon has added the digital ruble as another payment option for its customers.
MTS has successfully implemented digital ruble payments across all services connected to MTS Pay without restricting the option to particular products or services. As reported by Vedomosti, customers can now use digital rubles through the My MTS mobile app and the company's online store, with other services using the MTS Pay payment module also supporting the option. The process works similarly to Russia's Faster Payments System, allowing users to select digital rubles at checkout, choose a participating bank, and approve transactions through the bank's interface.
Rostelecom has successfully completed technical work with what it described to Vedomosti as one of Russia's largest banks, though the telecommunications company did not identify the lender. At launch, customers can now use digital rubles for one-time payments made through Rostelecom's official website, with the operator planning to add the payment option to customer accounts later. MegaFon has successfully prepared to add the digital ruble as another payment option for its customers, while VimpelCom declined to comment on its plans.
The telecom preparations come ahead of a legal deadline requiring large merchants to support digital ruble payments from September 1. According to Vedomosti, under Bank of Russia rules, merchants with revenue above ₹120 crore in the previous calendar year must provide the payment option if they met required banking conditions at the start of 2026. The requirement will expand in stages, with businesses above ₹30 million revenue from September 2027, and merchants with at least ₹20 million revenue following in September 2028.
Russia's two largest online marketplaces have successfully prepared for the September launch. As reported by Vedomosti, Wildberries and Ozon have successfully begun supporting digital ruble payments from September 1. Ozon is now accepting the digital ruble in testing mode alongside existing payment methods before expanding access to its customer base, while Wildberries has successfully implemented its digital ruble support in line with central bank requirements and current regulations.
