Digital ruble from September 1: how to make the first payment using a universal code

From September 1, 2026, large banks and retail chains are required to accept payments in digital rubles through a single QR code. We'll figure out what a citizen needs to do to make the first such payment, and what the business risks if it ignores the new rule.

The digital ruble is ceasing to be an experiment for a narrow circle of pilot participants, writes xrust. From September 1, 2026, its mass implementation will begin — the third form of national currency will be on a par with cash and non-cash money. For citizens, this remains a voluntary matter, but banks and parts of the business will no longer have to choose.

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What changes from September 1
How to make the first payment: step by step
What should business do
Why now
Will the digital ruble replace cash

What changes from September 1

Systemically important banks and credit organizations that are significant in the payment services market are obliged to provide their clients with the opportunity to pay in digital rubles. The obligation will then extend to other banks — the terms of connection will be determined by the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia. At the same time, retail outlets with revenue from significant turnover are also switching to a single universal payment code: the cash register must accept payments using one QR, which replaces the scattered codes of different payment systems.

Exemption is provided for small outlets — with revenue up to 5 million rubles over the past year — and for trade in places without the Internet. Everyone else will have to place the code at the checkout and train the staff to conduct such transactions: for refusal to accept digital rubles or lack of technical capabilities, a fine is provided for each recorded fact.

How to make the first payment: step by step

For the buyer, the entire design is reduced to several actions.

Open a digital wallet on the Bank of Russia platform. There is no need to download a separate application — this is done directly through the mobile application of your bank, if it is connected to the platform.
Top up your wallet from a regular bank account — money is transferred 1:1, the exchange rate to the regular ruble is fixed.
At the checkout — point your smartphone camera at the universal QR code or touch your phone to the NFC tag.
In the window that opens, select the payment method — digital ruble instead of SBP or card.
Confirm the payment in the bank application.

The process feels almost indistinguishable from the usual payment via SBP — the only difference is where exactly the money is debited from. The operator of the most universal code is the National Payment Card System, which promises to distribute it to banks free of charge, so as not to pass on implementation costs to businesses.

A separate advantage for the buyer is that if the retail outlet already works with SBP, it does not need to buy new equipment to accept digital rubles: the payment will go through the same terminals.

What should business do

class=»notranslate»>__GTAG7__Sellers subject to mandatory requirements need to close three points before the deadline: open an account in a bank connected to the digital ruble platform, place a universal code at the checkout and in terminals, and train staff on the new type of payment. For online stores, payment in digital rubles on websites and in applications will appear as the pilot project of the Central Bank ends — some companies have already set up this option.

Why now

The idea of a digital ruble has been discussed in Russia since 2020, tested on a limited circle of banks and clients for several years — logically, this follows the path that the Faster Payments System took at one time: first a pilot with voluntary participants, then the mandatory inclusion of large players, and only then a gradual expansion to everyone else. The difference is that the SBP worked on top of existing bank accounts, and the digital ruble is money on a separate platform of the Central Bank, where the bank does not act as a custodian of funds, but only as an intermediary in the interface.

Market analysts point out that for the state, this is, first of all, a tool for transparency of payments and reducing the costs of servicing cash turnover, and for businesses, it is a way to reduce acquiring commissions, since by law they are not charged from the digital ruble. For the average user, there is little tangible benefit in the moment: interest is not charged on the balance, loans in digital rubles are not issued — in fact, this is just another way to pay at the checkout.

Will the digital ruble replace cash

No — all forms of money are prescribed in the law as equal, and no one has removed the obligation to accept cash from retail outlets. The digital ruble is added as a third option, and does not displace the previous two.