Sberbank CEO puzzled by Russia's push to create digital rouble

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -German Gref, CEO of Russia's dominant lender Sberbank, on Wednesday said he did not see any potential benefits to Russia's development of the digital rouble beyond the possible exception of cross-border settlements.

Russian banks will be required to offer customers the means to make payments using digital roubles from September 1, 2026, the central bank said last week, pushing the project's planned launch back by over a year.

More than 130 countries are exploring digital versions of their currencies, according to the Atlantic Council, as the world's financial authorities respond to declining cash usage and the threat to their money-printing powers from the likes of bitcoin.

Moscow hopes the digital rouble will simplify foreign trade payments that have been complicated by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.

"I don't see its advantages," Gref told reporters during a financial forum in St Petersburg. "As an individual, I don't understand why digital roubles are needed. As a bank... I don't yet understand it very well either."

Russian banks already have strong digital finance capacities, such as cashless settlements, Gref said, reiterating that he saw no possibility for the digital rouble to meaningfully transform Russia's economy.

No digital currency has become dominant within any country, he said, but there could be a future in cross-border settlements.

"Domestically, I don't see it yet," he said.

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Bill Berkrot)