One in ten Russians would accept their salaries in digital ruble, according to a study by HeadHunter, via daily newspaper Izvestia.
Almost half of Russians (41%) are categorically not ready to receive their salary in digital rubles. Another 11% of citizens are open to accepting payments from employers in the new form of currency. The remaining 48% found it difficult to answer. More than 3,000 people took part in the survey by HeadHunter.
Those who are ready to receive payment in digital rubles are split between partial payment or complete payment. While some are ready to receive their entire salary in this form, others would accept no more than half of their monthly payments this way.
Digital ruble
In June, Russia’s central bank announced work on a pilot project for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble. Some 12 banks will participate, through which 87% of citizens receive money from employers. These banks include Sberbank, VTB, Ak Bars Bank, Alfa, Dom.rf Bank, Gazprombank, Tinkoff, PSB, Rosbank, SKB-Bank, Soyuz Bank and TKB Bank.
The announcement had also anticipated the development of the prototype for a digital ruble platform before the end of the year, which would begin testing by early 2022. First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Olga Skorobogatova said the digital ruble project aims to create new payment infrastructure. She hoped it would “improve the availability of payments and transfers, and to reduce their cost for households and businesses.”
Skorobogatova also stressed the importance of a seamless migration between traditional and digital currency. Part of the first stage of testing will be to monitor the emission of the digital ruble, among other various operations. Then, if everything goes according to plan, additional banks will be included in the pilot project over time.