MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has urged consumers and businesses to use digital payments rather than cash in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus and told banks to limit rouble notes in circulation.
FILE PHOTO: A man counts 5,000 rouble banknotes while he uses a Sberbank ATM in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, January 11, 2016. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin/File Photo
Consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor this month encouraged Russians to move to cashless payments, citing World Health Organization guidelines stating that a virus can linger on a banknote for three to four days.
The central bank already keeps banknotes for up to 14 days before distributing them and is now asking other banks to do the same, said Vladimir Demidenko, deputy head of its cash circulation department.
Retail banks have also been asked to limit the refilling of ATMs that recycle notes and to disinfect terminals regularly. The limits will not apply to ATMS that do not recycle notes and are restocked…
Source Reuters Tech News
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