“The growth of cashless money itself is neither good nor bad. It is a reflection of how reality has changed. How safe this process will depend primarily on the quality of regulation.
The growth in the share of
This is happening, firstly, because of the development of technology. The Faster Payment System (FPS), mass distribution of contactless payment via NFC, QR codes, and now biometrics — all this makes payment easier and faster. From a business point of view, the number of POS terminals in the country grew by almost 10% over the year, reaching 4.9 mn.
Secondly, regulatory incentives, such as reduced acquiring rates for payment via FPS, mandatory acceptance of bank cards at retail outlets, cashback programs and incentives for small businesses, increase the convenience of cashless payment.
From an economic and fiscal point of view, this is a plus. Transparent payments mean a decrease in the shadow economy and an increase in tax collection. Entrepreneurs save on collection and get access to important data on customer behavior.
At the same time, we should not forget that cashless payments require uninterrupted operation of the digital infrastructure. A single system failure can result in retail paralysis. In addition, the protection of personal data, especially biometric data, is becoming increasingly important,” said Kirill Chernovol