UPDATE: Cbank says growing Russian cash-outs via e-wallets dangerous

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MOSCOW, Apr 26 (PRIME) -- Cashing out money via electronic wallets in Russia has grown to a grand scale and turned into a dangerous and complicated problem, Central Bank Deputy Chairman Dmitry Skobelkin said Tuesday at a conference.

“Despite lower volumes cash-outs raise concern. Primarily, we see a new direction now, which is the use of e-wallets. They have been exploited for a long time, but their scope is serious at present,” Skobelkin said.

“From our point of view, this tool is the most dangerous and difficult to reveal. We are cooperating with the Communications Ministry and the Federal Financial Monitoring Service. We have created a special department to tackle the issue. This is a serious problem.”

Pavel Livadny, deputy director of the monitoring service, said that the authority is discussing a ban of unidentified e-wallets with the central bank and the Finance Ministry.

“We are studying the possibility of getting rid of unidentified electronic means of payment by linking these payment tools, e-wallets and so forth, to a banking account of a client,” Livadny said.

“I think that we could document the initiative in terms of the law by the end of the year. If the initiative is adopted, we will improve transparency and abolish anonymity, including the creation of serious preferences for the banking sector significantly.”

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