Electronic Money: Special Aspects of Legal Regulation in Russia

Abstract

The regulatory sphere of electronic money rose in 2011 by adoption of the Federal Law ? 161-FZ of June 27, 2011 “On the national payment system” (hereinafter referred to as – the Law on the National Payment System). At the time of writing, electronic payments are integrated into the system of state and municipal payments. Individuals may pay penalties, duties and other fees imposed by state authorities, pay for services and goods in online stores and so on using electronic money. Examples of the largest operators of electronic money that maintain electronic wallets are Qiwi Bank, Yandex.Money and Web Money. And of course banks could be the operators of electronic money and they could transfer electronic money. The use of electronic money becomes more developed and more regulated by the Russian state authorities. The outcome of a wider spread and availability of such system is user’s anonymity, safety of transactions, and as a result lowering of the risk of unfair commercial use. Let us review the regulation and specific features of electronic money in Russia.