The Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets received his salary in digital rubles for the first time.

"The Central Bank actually handles the transactions, but the technology is set up in such a way that I receive my salary at one of the banking institutions, conduct transactions, and then use their app to conduct transactions involving the digital ruble. I did this today, transferred money to two charities and paid for a children's cafeteria. They have the opportunity; they signed an agreement with the Central Bank and are participating in an experiment. I paid for my lunch there with the digital ruble. It's very convenient, but I wouldn't say it's much different from the transactions I conduct using a bank card or an app linked to a bank account."

— Is it possible to convert the digital ruble into real rubles? Can you cash out this amount?

"I have to transfer it to a bank card, and then, if I need cash, I can withdraw it from the teller or an ATM. I've actually done that myself, by the way. But it's clear that the digital ruble is more transparent when it comes to security; it's certainly 100% protected from any external intrusions. I see the main advantage of the digital ruble when financing contracts with a public organization as being that the person paying for the contract can see how their money is moving: whether it's in accordance with the contract or being diverted."

— When you transfer rubles from a digital account to a bank, does the exchange rate change at all, just one for one?

"You transfer the same ruble, just like a non-cash ruble. It's equivalent to a cash ruble, and their value is the same. In this case, the advantage the Central Bank is talking about is that transfers will be commission-free, which is a benefit for those using the digital ruble."

"It's a company initiative. There aren't any special bonuses, really. We're just following technological progress, so we were interested. We modified the cash register software to accept digital rubles via QR code, and Aksakov made the payment."

— How expensive is this story for the company?

"This is a low-cost solution, and for most market participants, it will ultimately require no investment. A QR code will be displayed on the payment terminal, which the bank's app will scan and process the payment. The entire mechanism will be integrated into the most common point-of-sale software in the restaurant market. However, for now, this test is, of course, very limited; only a few thousand people can make this payment.

— What business prospects do you see for yourself with this payment option?

— First of all, businesses expect a reduction in the acquiring interest rate, because this system inherently assumes that this payment, the acquiring interest rate, will be lower than the current acquiring rates from most banks. This will, of course, be a huge benefit to businesses; there are no final figures yet, perhaps by a few tenths of a percent, but with large turnover, this could be a very significant amount. It's just that there are systems where acquiring can be 2% and 2.5%. Imagine if instead of 2.5% it were 0.8%, for example, an additional 1.5% of profit—that's a colossal figure. There's another convenience that few people know about: the digital ruble will have an end-to-end account across all bank apps, meaning no matter which bank's app you use, if you register there, you'll immediately have your digital ruble account, and it will contain the very same digital rubles you already have.