New FPS Transfers for Russian Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs
A major update is coming to the way money moves between businesses in Russia. Soon, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs will be able to send transfers through the fast payment system, known as FPS. This change, reported in a leading national newspaper, follows regulatory adjustments issued earlier this year by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation under the regulation On the payment system of the Bank of Russia. The move is part of a wider push to speed up corporate payments and settle transactions quickly across the domestic financial network. FPS is being designed to simplify payments for corporate clients and independent professionals, enabling smoother fund flows between counterparties within Russia’s banking system.
According to the Central Bank’s press service, companies and individual entrepreneurs will have the ability to make online payments to their counterparties at any time, around the clock, every day of the week. Transactions will be completed using a QR code, a method chosen to cut processing times and reduce manual data entry errors. Regulators emphasize that recipients can expect funds to appear in near real time, underscoring FPS goal of near instantaneous settlement for both business-to-business and business-to-self transactions. This development supports a broader national effort to digitize payments and to improve the efficiency of financial interactions for small and medium sized enterprises and independent professionals across the country.
Alongside these domestic improvements, the Central Bank of Russia has reiterated ongoing restrictions on cross border transfers. The policy reflects a careful balance between strengthening the domestic payment infrastructure and managing international flows. At the same time, the bank restates its policy that Russian citizens and non-resident individuals from friendly countries are not allowed to transfer more than one million US dollars or its equivalent to any foreign bank account within a rolling monthly period. The cap aims to maintain oversight of international remittances while supporting the operation of Russia’s domestic payment ecosystem and its relations in international finance.
Separately, the digital ruble law enacted previously continues to shape Russia’s monetary landscape. The digital ruble project seeks to provide a central bank backed digital currency option for residents and potentially approved non residents, integrating with current payment rails and FPS workflows. The convergence of FPS transfers, digital currency initiatives, and international transfer restrictions reflects a strategic effort to modernize payments, shorten settlement times, and reinforce the stability and resilience of the domestic financial system as Russia navigates a dynamic global environment.