Lawmakers in Russia are reportedly preparing new rules aimed at restricting foreign payment systems that offers money transfer and transaction services on the Internet.
As per the new legislation being drafted by the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, the foreign Internet payment systems, including PayPal and WebMoney, will have to cough up hefty security deposits to continue operating in Russia.
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Earlier, Russia meted out the same treatment to global payment processors MasterCard and Visa and asked them to deposit nearly $3bn as collateral with the Central Bank of Russia.
The proposed restrictions may prove a stumbling block for the US PayPal and London-based Webmoney payment systems, according to media reports.
United Russia deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov, one of the authors of the bill, sees it as a "safety cushion" for Russian online payers as it will protect their money against possible foreign sanctions that might block access to their digital wallets, as reported by voiceofrussia.com.
Fyodorov told the publication that the regulation will make foreign payment systems more transparent, as there is a possibility of anonymous online payments being used to finance terrorism or other criminal activities.
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By GlobalDataHe further explained that the new rule exactly plans to ban Internet money transfers from anonymous accounts, which came into light in Russia in May this year.
