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- Let me write it down: business migrates to banks from the lists of the Ministry of Finance due to Internet outages
Let me write it down: business migrates to banks from the lists of the Ministry of Finance due to Internet outages
Businesses are forced to switch to banks from the "white lists", refusing more favorable terms in small credit institutions, Izvestia found out. Companies are already facing interruptions in payments, as their banks are not included in the lists of the Ministry of Finance. As a result, competition in the market is decreasing: so far there are only five credit institutions in the department's registers. The Central Bank insists on expanding the "white lists" to the entire sector, but so far the proposal is only being discussed.
Why were only five banks added to the "white lists"?
Companies that are not included in the "white lists" face interruptions in operation when the Internet is disconnected, Sergey Katyrin, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. This is reflected in online payment disruptions, logistics disruptions, and reduced effectiveness of digital sales channels and customer communications.
The most vulnerable are small retail outlets, especially those where payment terminals operate via the mobile Internet, said Alexey Begaev, founder of the Insek Group of companies. Their activities directly depend on the stability of banking services, so any restrictions immediately affect their revenue.
At the same time, those organizations that are included in the lists of the Ministry of Finance retain the customer flow.
The "white lists" in the Russian Federation are lists of Internet resources and services that remain accessible even with communication restrictions for security reasons. There is no general and updated complete "white list" of services and resources on the website of the Ministry of Digital Economy, but there are the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth lists, which are published separately.
To connect to them, the FSB requires to fulfill a number of requirements, including installing a system of operational investigative measures (SORM) - it provides law enforcement agencies with access to information transfer data.
The addition of the "white lists" is formed, among other things, in coordination with the departments responsible for security, while the placement of all computing resources inside the country remains a prerequisite, the Ministry of Finance explained.
Currently, five Russian banks are included in the "white lists" — VTB, Alfa-Bank, PSB, MTS-Bank and Gazprombank, the press service of the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia. At the same time, there are 305 banks operating in Russia, according to the Central Bank. This means that about 98% of the players cannot function properly in conditions of Internet outages. Zenit Bank and Novikom Bank are planning to join the "white lists", representatives of the organizations said.
— Being on this "white list" of sites means a serious competitive advantage for those banks that are on it. And, of course, this violates the rule of fair and equal competition," the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said earlier.
According to the regulator's position, all licensed participants should have access to the list, and this issue is already being worked out with the Ministry of Finance.
The narrowing of the list of normally operating banks may lead to a redistribution of the customer base in favor of the listed players, as well as an increase in tariffs due to reduced competition, said Pavel Samiev, Chairman of the Financial Markets Committee of Opora Russia.
How the "white lists" affect the financial market
Credit organizations are already facing blockages when restricting mobile Internet, said Bulat Anerzhanov, Director of the Strategic Development Department of the Association of Banks of Russia. The association receives many requests from banks that cannot ensure the stable operation of their services for customers.
If the bank's application does not work, the client makes a simple conclusion — it is necessary to change the financial institution, said Denis Astafyev, entrepreneur and founder of the SharesPro platform. All this only strengthens the positions of the major players.
Reducing the competitiveness of banks outside the "white lists" will lead to a flow of customers in favor of organizations that can work with Internet outages, said Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of VMT Consult. Businesses are already starting to protect themselves from risks and open accounts there to avoid payment disruptions.
In addition, customers of banks outside the lists of the Ministry of Finance are forced to use cash more often, the Novikom press service reported. This leads to the withdrawal of some of the financial flows from the digital environment and creates difficulties in paying off loans and other obligations on time.
How long will the list of banks be limited?
Connection to the "white lists" is still going on without uniform criteria, and the application review process remains opaque, said the head of the CCI of the Russian Federation. Large banks and government services receive priority, while businesses face uncertain terms and conditions.
Mitigation of requirements is possible at the level of an interdepartmental commission from the Ministry of Finance, the FSB and Roskomnadzor, which forms the rules for connection, Denis Astafyev noted. The probability of further expansion of the lists to all banks is high, but only if market participants are willing to incur significant costs for the implementation of infrastructure, including SORM and data storage systems.
Large banks adapt faster to new requirements, while small players may face insurmountable barriers due to a lack of resources, emphasized Ekaterina Kosareva from VMT. This can increase their backlog and lead to withdrawal from the market or takeover. At the same time, it should be understood that small players can offer more favorable terms for their products (for example, increased deposit rates and reduced loan rates), although the risks in this segment are higher.
The demand for equipment needed to connect to the "white lists" has already increased by 35-40% year-on-year in January 2026, Izvestia previously wrote. The share of banks among buyers has jumped from 5% to 20% over the year, which means that the process is proceeding, but slowly.
Limiting the list to several participants will be temporary, Pavel Samiev believes. Even systemically important banks are still missing, which indicates that the approach is incomplete, so the best solution would be to quickly expand the list to at least most of the market.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry also proposes to expand the "white lists" beyond the banking sector to include socially significant services, noted Sergey Katyrin. Lack of access to resources such as pharmacy chains can lead to serious consequences for patients and increase the burden on the healthcare system, so it is important to ensure their work.
At the same time, it should be understood that the full—fledged operation of the same banks under restrictions is impossible even if they are included in the "white lists", said Yuri Belikov, Managing Director of Expert RA. Their services are complex digital ecosystems that depend on many external resources, and without full access to the network, their functionality will inevitably be limited. As a result, only a basic set of operations will be available to customers until the entire infrastructure is adapted.
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