OREANDA-NEWS. The Bank of Russia recommends that  credit institutions should tighten control over their banking payment agents (BPAs). The respective methodological recommendations specify the applicable provisions of Bank of Russia Ordinance No. 2963-U, dated 14 September 2011, 'On the Procedure for Money Transfer Operators Being Credit Institutions to Exercise Control over Banking Payment Agents'.

'These recommendations have been designed to increase responsibility of credit institutions recruiting BPAs and consequently to ensure compliance by such agents with legislative requirements, which should have a positive impact on the quality of BPA services for accepting payments from individuals', Alla Bakina, Director of the National Payment System Department, noted.

Banks are recommended to determine the procedure for recruiting BPAs in their internal documents and provide for the terms of obtaining information on BPA activities in the contracts concluded. Moreover, banks are recommended to determine the list of criteria indicating tangled or unusual operations by BPAs testifying to the lack of economic feasibility or legal purpose.

Such measures as reports, inspections and other forms of monitoring and control are also envisaged.