VTB that fell under U.S. sanctions will launch a digital bank in Telegram by the end of 2022, member of the VTB Management Board Svyatoslav Ostrovsky told RBC.

Alfa-bank, which is under the same sanctions, is also planning to improve its digital bank in Telegram soon, its representative told the media. Similar functionality is partially implemented in MTS Bank.

Following the imposed sanctions in March 2022, the VTB Online mobile application was removed from the App Store on the iPhone. As a result, it stopped working on the iPhone. The application continues to work on Android (removed from the Google Play app store, but available for download directly from the VTB website). Later, the Balance application appeared in the App Store, which completely copies the functionality of VTB Online. VTB has also improved the functionality of its online bank for mobile devices.

“We see that the habits of customers are changing - they spend more time on Telegram and social networks, use such services as an entry point to the digital space instead of a browser. Therefore, we will offer customers a full-fledged online bank in Telegram, giving them the opportunity to conveniently and safely make payments, transfers, view balances and arrange products,” Ostrovsky explained.

How the bank will work in Telegram

The new digital bank will be created on the basis of the existing VTB chatbot in Telegram. The users will be able to view the account balance, information on the bank’s products, popular types of transfers and payments. In the future, VTB will add options depending on the wishes of users, and in the long term - strive to bring the functionality in Telegram to a full-fledged mobile application, Ostrovsky said.

To perform the operation, the client will need to log in to the messenger by entering a username and password, as when logging into the VTB Online application. Then the VTB digital assistant will prompt the user to select the necessary financial transaction and conduct it directly in the messenger.

The risks of using banks in messengers are comparable to making payments on websites: it is important for users to remain vigilant so as not to fall for phishing or other tricks of intruders, said Sergey Golovanov, chief expert at Kaspersky Lab.

In order to use the bank in Telegram, the user himself/herself should reliably protect his/her phone, use two-factor authentication in Telegram and ensure the protection of all devices that connect to the messenger, Golovanov emphasized.

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