Legal framework established for first BoR regulatory sandbox project
Legal status has been confirmed for a service enabling the remote management of transaction authorities as regards corporate accounts at banking outlets. The document setting out its legal status has been registered by the Ministry of Justice. The regulatory changes will enable lenders to launch this service while implementing sizeable cuts in the costs of corporate customer services and accelerating transactions at banking outlets.
The current practice employed by lenders for keeping records of transaction authorities involves a paper card with a signature sample and stamp. Customers must visit the bank to put the card into operation. Under the new rules, the paper card with a signature sample may be dispensed with and the authorities may be recorded electronically when, among other cases, customers submit authorisation documents electronically. Customers will be able to perform transactions in the bank and confirm them with their e-signature. Also, credit institutions will be able to create and register a signature and stamp card in proprietary format. Several fields in this card can be executed electronically.
‘Verifying signatures on payment orders with signature sample cards is a suboptimal and obsolete process, which fails to meet customer needs. Their current technical capabilities allow banks to address this problem ’, noted Ivan Zimin, Acting Director, Financial Technology Department of the Bank of Russia. ‘It is the first service we have completed a pilot study for in our regulatory sandbox. Last year, it was declared practicable for implementation. There are now 15 projects in our sandbox: for some of them, pilot studies are underway; some are nearing this stage. The regulatory sandbox has proved fit for the task of removing legal barriers to financial market innovations’.
As a reminder, the Bank of Russia launched its regulatory sandbox back in April 2018. The tool was set up to test innovative financial services and technologies involving the need for regulatory changes. Any organisation can initiate piloting a project in the sandbox by submitting an application to the Bank of Russia.