Russia's Largest Bank, Sberbank: Blockchain Technology Can Solve Global Payment Problems

The leading bank in Russia, Sberbank assesses that blockchain technology can be used to facilitate international payments. (Photo; Doc. Merca20)

JAKARTA - The issue of international payments is a major concern for countries around the world, including Russia. Currently, major banks in Russia are not connected to the main global interbank payment system, SWIFT, due to the war in Ukraine. This problem makes some banks find it difficult to make international payment transactions.

Even so, one of the largest banks in Russia, Sberbank, found a solution to this problem with blockchain technology. According to Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy CEO of Sberbank, blockchain technology will help solve the problem of international payments by making transactions faster and safer.

Vedyakhin added that this technology will enable transactions to be recorded in a distributed ledger, so that no decision-making point can be shut down suddenly.

Vedyakhin also mentioned that blockchain technology has progressed over the past few years, and overcomes some of the existing problems, such as blockchain platform capacity and transaction secrecy. Sberbank itself has conducted research with other financial institutions and the Central Bank of Russia to develop blockchain-based payment applications.

Several Russian banks, including Sberbank, were sanctioned by the United States and the European Union after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These sanctions limited Russia's access to the global financial system. Even so, Sberbank continues to carry out initiatives to form a more efficient alternative international payment system.

In a meeting with the Committee on Budget and Financial Markets of the Federation Council, Vedyakhin also emphasized that the next generation of payment systems will be blockchain-based. Therefore, Sberbank and several other financial institutions in Russia continue to conduct research to develop blockchain applications in international payments.