Large Russian banks, some of which are under Western sanctions, plan to start purchasing domestic ATMs, RBC reports with reference to representatives of financial institutions.

According to a representative of Sberbank, the Russian market now has mostly only ATMs of foreign manufacturers.

According to the government decree, already in 2021 the share of Russian devices in the purchase of ATMs by state-owned banks should be at least 18%, from 2022 this figure has increased to 20%.

One of the suppliers of foreign terminals began its production of ATMs, and was financed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia among others. Not all component parts of ATMs will be Russian. Experts warn that some difficulties may arise during the production. They say the most technologically advanced devices in the country are still Korean devices (their manufacturer has not suspended operation in Russia).

The Russian company BFS, which supplies foreign models to Russia since 2004, decided to master the production of domestic devices, its CEO and co-founder Artyom Zhilonov said. He said in early 2023 the company plans to start producing ATMs based on the Elbrus processor.

“Large Russian banks, including VTB, are already interested in the future products of the company. Working groups have been set, and we are planning the first shipments with our colleagues. One of the large banks intends to purchase about 1.5 thousand devices at the beginning of 2023,” Zhilonov said



VTB seeks to refocus on Russian-made devices, and after the release of the first BFS ATMs, it plans to test them, a bank representative confirmed. “The decision on the full introduction of devices in our ATM fleet will be made based on the results of the pilot project,” he said.

Sberbank is also interested in diversifying the ATM fleet and is ready to consider proposals from potential manufacturers, provided that they meet the regulatory criteria for safety, ergonomics and design, a bank representative said.

Rosbank is also studying the possibility of using Russian ATMs. Such a possibility in the future does not exclude the Russian Standard, their representatives said.

The need in domestic production of ATMs emerged after in the spring of 2022, large foreign manufacturers of ATMs, American companies Diebold Nixdorf and NCR, suspended their work in Russia against the backdrop of Western sanctions.

“They are the leaders of the global ATM market and the leaders of the Russian market. Their share of ATMs in the total number of devices in Russia is about 60-70%. Most banks worked with them,” Zhilonov said.

Due to the departure of large manufacturers of ATMs, banks, for example, asked the Central Bank to postpone the introduction of new banknotes, which were supposed to appear in 2022. At the same time, GRG ATMs, which are produced by the state defense holding of China, as well as Korean Nautilus Hyosung, Japanese OKI, etc., continue to operate in Russia.

Russian BFS ATMs will work on the basis of Russian Elbrus processor. At the first stage of import substitution, BFS ATMs will use a Russian chip and design, documentation, case elements and Russian software. The cash recognition and processing module, as well as a number of foreign-made components, will remain for now. They are expected to be replaced within a few years. The Linux platform will be used to manage the ATM.

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