Eight banks in Russia, including Rossiya and SMP banks will start testing the country’s new national payment system. The move comes as a part of Russia’s ambitious initiative to move away from the Western dominance of its financial markets. The Russian Central Bank said it would have its own international inter-bank payment system, an alternative to the global SWIFT network up and running by May 2015. Gazprombank, Rosbank, Alfa Bank and Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development are among eight other banks to join the pilot project. They were selected based on the size of business, location and technology platform. Another bank involved in NPS testing is Russia’s second largest VTB. The bank will soon connect to the NPS to test the system and be ready for any potential difficulties with payments in the future. The latest version of the NPS technology is being tested by the Russian Openway Solutions company.
