A single QR code that carries a standard customer journey across many merchants is a topic of strategic interest. In a session at the Finopolis forum focused on competition and partnership, Dmitry Malykh, Senior Vice President and head of Sberbank’s B2C Transactional Banking block, outlined what this approach could look like. The idea is a user experience where a shopper can move through a network of participating merchants with a unified code, reducing friction and making the payment flow seamless. It would create an open digital pathway that works across banks, payment rails, and merchants, instead of locking customers into the preferences of any single institution.
He noted that practical requirements could include mandatory processing through the national payment system and, in the near term, support for digital ruble payments as a complement to existing methods. He also warned that the code should not be legally tied to a single market player, since that would risk entrenching market power and limiting competition.
On regulation, Malykh urged thoughtful and timely policy. It is positive that guiding rules exist and that they should minimize risks to customers. He suggested exploring combinations with loyalty programs and developing a policy framework that could formalize such integrations as part of a broader digital payments strategy.
Ivan Pyatkov, the director of Alfa-Bank’s retail business, stated that the conditions for building an alternative payments system in Russia are already in place. He challenged the industry to move beyond a fixation on a single QR model and emphasized that a healthy ecosystem benefits from multiple paths to reach the same goal.
He also noted that the market has seen two major participants drift away from a central NSPC role, creating room for competition. Any monopoly would hinder growth, so the emergence of an alternative payment system is not only possible but desirable for a more resilient payments landscape in Russia.
Malykh reiterated that the Bank of Russia has long supported competition in the financial market and should act as an enabler for banks. He argued that this system should not be built on card rails alone and that a broader, interoperable approach would better serve consumers and merchants alike.
The single QR concept had been discussed on a prominent expert platform about a year earlier, and the central bank has since underscored the goal of a universal QR managed by NSPK. The universal QR method has seen active use, including Sber’s development on the MultiQR platform, where 18 banks are connected. To advance interoperability, Sber, T-Bank, and Alfa formed a banking consortium. The Bank of Russia has kept its stance that NSPK’s universal QR should remain the single standard, a position that continues to shape policy and industry strategy.