The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) plans to create a unified map of financial access points based on Yandex.Maps, a digital mapping service by Russian tech giant Yandex, Vedomosti reports.

The map will facilitate monitoring of citizens and businesses that may be at risk of digital inequality, considering that Internet access is not yet available in all inhabited areas in Russia and many customers can't afford to use remote service in favor of physical access points.

According to CBR’s report on the development of the financial sector through 2024, it intends to use the information provided by financial institutions and integrate it into Yandax.Map, which the regulator considers “one of the leading Russian mapping services”.

In March, the CBR made an agreement with Yandex for procurement of a mapping service, but the procurement was canceled due to the fact that Yandex was the only participant in the competition. The project is expected to cost $848,000 (62 million rubles).

After implementation, users will be able to see the location of ATMs and bank offices based on official information from the Central Bank. Among other categories of financial services, the map will include microfinance organizations, credit consumer cooperatives, pawnshops, insurance entities, and professional brokers. The map will also indicate post offices where users can conduct banking transactions, ATMs, cashless payment terminals, as well as cash-out points.

Original (in Russian)