Russia Mulls Creation of Payment System Via Messengers

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia may be interested in developing an in-app payment system, similar to China's WeChat Pay, to ensure the country's financial independence, Maksim Akimov, the deputy head of the Russian government's Executive Office, told Sputnik in an interview.

"We must have a sovereign payment system, definitely, undoubtedly… This could be a payment system built on new technologies, including messengers," Akimov said, when asked if Russia might set up a system similar to China's WeChat Pay.

Akimov added that the payment system would not necessarily rely on the state's "own" messenger built specifically or this purpose.

"What does 'our own' mean? The company that fully belongs to the government or, for example, the one that complies with a standard and can ensure security as required? I believe in the latter model," Akimov said.

China's WeChat social media app users can link their bank accounts to their messenger profiles and pay for goods and services or transfer money to other users without leaving the application.

Russia's Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks introduced money transfers between users in 2016.

The country's largest commercial bank, Sberbank, has recently joined in on the trend by adding a messenger with a money transfer option to its popular banking application Sberbank Online.