Bank of Russia Proposes Mandatory Card Refunds on Marketplaces

The Bank of Russia has proposed obliging marketplaces and other digital platforms to refund customers to the same bank card used for payment. The regulator sent the initiative to the Ministry of Economic Development, Interfax reported, citing a source familiar with the central bank's proposals.

The new requirement would cover all cashless payments made through digital platforms. Buyers would still keep the right to choose a different electronic payment instrument or bank account for receiving refunds themselves.

Why did the central bank step in?

The trigger is a practice some marketplaces use: they transfer money for returned goods to anonymous electronic wallets opened in the platforms' subsidiary banks. In some cases customers do not even know these wallets exist and never see the funds arrive.

Alexei Chirkov, head of consumer protection regulation at the Bank of Russia, explained earlier that money on an anonymous wallet cannot be withdrawn to a bank card without identification. The practical result: refunded money works only for new purchases on the same platform, not as actual cash back to the consumer.

Current law caps the balance on an anonymous wallet at 15,000 rubles and limits monthly operations to 40,000 rubles. Those ceilings further restrict what a buyer can do with funds parked in such a wallet.

What else is in the proposal?

Beyond refund rules, the central bank proposed extending to digital platforms the requirements for selling financial products that already apply to financial organizations. To enforce compliance, the regulator intends to bring the platforms into its supervisory perimeter — a move that would place e-commerce operators under direct central bank oversight for at least part of their activity.

That second part deserves scrutiny. The proposal does not specify which financial products would fall under the rules, nor what sanctions platforms would face for violations. Supervision of large retail technology companies is a significant expansion of the regulator's mandate, and the text sent to the ministry leaves the boundaries of that expansion undefined.

Is this binding yet?

No. In April 2025 the Bank of Russia already recommended that banks return money to the card used for paying for goods and services. Those recommendations carry no legal obligation, and there is no evidence in the source material that marketplaces changed their wallet-based refund practices after them.

The new requirements remain a legislative initiative for now. No timeline for their possible entry into force has been set, and the proposal still has to pass through the Ministry of Economic Development before any draft law appears.

For retailers, the practical stakes are concrete. If the rule takes effect, platforms lose a mechanism that keeps refunded money inside their own ecosystem — effectively a retention tool converted from customer returns. Buyers regain the option to spend the refund anywhere, which could trim repeat-purchase rates driven by wallet balances. Whether the ministry backs the initiative, and in what form, remains open.