‘Russia’s Amazons’ Wildberries and Ozon to launch digital ruble payments

The leading online marketplaces in Russia and its region, Wildberries and Ozon, are launching digital ruble payments in the coming weeks.

The news coincides with Moscow’s preparations to enforce a new crypto law and begin introducing its state-issued coin starting from September.

Russian e-commerce giants to support payments in digital rubles

The top two sites that dominate internet retailing in Russia, Wildberries and Ozon, will soon start accepting digital rubles from millions of shoppers.

The online platforms, known throughout the post-Soviet space, plan to introduce payments in Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) on the 1st of next month.

Representatives of the digital marketplaces announced their intentions to the RIA Novosti news agency. Also quoted by the business news outlet Prime late on Thursday, one of them commented:

“Starting September 1, Ozon will accept the digital ruble in a test mode along with other payment methods and will gradually expand this option to all customers.”

A spokesperson for Wildberries did not mention a testing period, but simply stated that the company “is acting in accordance with the requirements of the Bank of Russia and current regulations.”

Russia’s digital ruble system has been under development for several years now. First trials with actual transactions commenced in 2023.

A pilot project, initiated with a limited number of participating banks, businesses and individual users, has been expanding since last year.

The original plan was to open the platform for public use in 2025, but the launch was postponed to give companies and financial institutions more time to prepare.

In accordance with the latest schedule, adopted by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) last summer, the CBDC will be introduced in several stages, beginning this next fall.

Thus, large retail chains, with annual revenues exceeding 120 million rubles (nearly $1.5 million), should be ready to accept digital rubles on September 1, 2026.

Starting from the same date, Russia’s biggest commercial banks must be able to process digital ruble transactions for their clients.

Smaller banks and retailers, those with an annual revenue of over 30 million rubles (around $360,000), will have another year to do so.

The grace period is even longer for all other banking services providers and businesses. The deadline for them to adjust is September 1, 2028.

The digital ruble is the third incarnation of Russia’s national currency, after cash and electronic, bank money, and will be universally accepted as legal tender.

All systemically important banks are ready for its widespread implementation, emphasized Alla Bakina, director of the CBR’s National Payment System Department.

From next month, their customers will be able to open digital ruble wallets within their banking apps at the click of a button, the central bank executive assured.

The monetary authority has integrated and activated the feature for online CBDC payments, allowing e-commerce platforms to offer the new payment method.

Crypto payments not an option under Russia’s digital currency law

Ozon, which is known as “Amazon of Russia,” started in 1998 as an online bookstore, but is now selling a great variety of goods, just like the American e-commerce and tech behemoth.

Wildberries, launched as a clothing seller in 2004, is currently the largest online retailer in Russia, having expanded into multiple other categories like cosmetics, electronics and home goods.

It has significant presence in other markets in the region including most former-Soviet republics like Armenia, Kazakhstan and Georgia, but also the United Arab Emirates.

Before Moscow’s military invasion in early 2022, it was also operating in Ukraine as well as a number of other nations in Eastern and Western Europe, and beyond.

Both marketplaces connect third-party merchants with millions of retail customers and rely on extensive networks of local warehouses and pickup points.

Some of Wildberries’ biggest warehouses in the Russian Federation were recently targeted in Ukrainian drone strikes over the company’s support for its war effort.

About a year ago, the retailer announced it’s piloting crypto payments in Belarus, Russia’s closest political and economic ally which is well ahead in terms of regulation.

This is unlikely to ever happen in the Russian market, where the recently adopted law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” legalizes crypto investment and trading but permanently bans direct payments with decentralized digital money.