Contactless payments in Russia

The main articles are:

• Contactless NFC payments
• Non-cash payments in Russia

Chronicle

2025: YuOney unveils offline payment plates

JMoney has launched payment plates - a physical product for paying for purchases through the SBP. The company announced this on October 17, 2025. Read more here.

2022: Mir system operator to offer platform to replace Apple Pay and Google Pay

In the fall of 2022, the operator of the Mir system, the National Payment Card System (NSPK), will present a bank payment form for contactless payment. Financial organizations will have the technical opportunity to implement a payment service using QR codes formed in mobile devices of cardholders. This was announced on September 22, 2022 by representatives of the Mir payment system. Read more here.

2021: Pay payments began to be used 2.5 times more than Russians

On August 4, 2021, it became known that in Russia, citizens began to pay for purchases using Pay technology more often. The number of such contactless payments for 7 months of 2021 increased by 36%, turnover - 2.4 times, and the number of payers - almost 2.5 times.

The largest growth, 11.3 times, was among purchases in the amount of 500 thousand to a million rubles.

These conclusions were reached by analysts at YuKassa (payment service YuOney, part of the Sberbank ecosystem). They studied various payment methods in more than 120 thousand online stores from January 1 to July 31, 2020 and 2021.

For seven months of 2021, the share of Pay payments among other payment methods amounted to 17%. 10% of purchases were paid through invoices on social networks and instant messengers, 4% on cards and accounts of YuOney. Bank cards, virtual and plastic, still lead with a 69% share.

The number of Pay payments for seven months of 2021 increased by 36% compared to the same period in 2020, the turnover and number of payers increased 2.4 and almost 2.5 times, respectively. The average check grew by 77% and amounted to 1,531 rubles. The main number of purchases using mobile systems falls on Apple Pay - 76%, and on Google Pay - 24%. The number of purchases through Google Pay increased 3.6 times, through Apple Pay - by 13%. But the average check is higher for Apple Pay: 1,574 rubles against 1,395 rubles for Google Pay, - said Ivan Glazachev, CEO of YuMoney.

During the reporting period, the number of purchases paid by bank cards increased by 24%, and turnover increased by 20%. At the same time, the average check decreased by 4%, to 1384 rubles. The number of payers increased slightly - by 10%.

The increase in the number of payments through social networks and instant messengers amounted to 6%, the increase in turnover - 19%. The average check increased by 13% and reached 586 rubles. Sales of goods and services on credit or installments via the Internet have significantly increased. The number of purchases compared to 2020 increased by 51%, turnover - by 67%. The average check increased by 11% and amounted to 20,822 rubles, and the number of payers increased by 46%.

The share of purchases paid from smartphones in the seven months of 2021 increased by 9%, from 50% to 59%. But payment from desktops decreased from 48% to 40%. The rest of users pay for purchases from tablets.

For 7 months of 2021, the number of users who paid for purchases with YuOney virtual cards increased by 57% compared to the number of plastic card holders. At the same time, users who pay for purchases with virtual cards online are twice as many as paying offline.

The number of online and offline purchases from virtual machines for 7 months of 2021 increased by 17% compared to last year. The same growth was shown by the turnover. The average check did not change and amounted to 669 rubles. The dynamics on plastic cards is lower: online and offline purchases have increased by 10%, and turnover has grown by 2%. The average check decreased by 7%, to 748 rubles. JMoney has released more than 19 million virtual and over two million plastic cards.

For 7 months of 2021, the majority of Pay payments (17%) fell on amounts from a thousand to two thousand rubles. In 2020, purchases from 100 to 200 rubles (28%) were in first place. In 2021, the largest growth, 11.3 times, was recorded among purchases in the amount of 500 thousand to a million rubles. In 2021, bank cards were most often paid for purchases worth from 100 to 200 rubles (21%), and in 2020 their share was 18%. The largest growth, 24.5 times, is in purchases worth from one to 10 million rubles. On credit or installments via the Internet, they often bought goods and services worth from 10 to 20 thousand rubles. Their share was 30%, which is 7% less than last year. The largest growth, 3.3 times, was among purchases worth from 80 to 100 thousand rubles.

{{quote "The most noticeable number of payers using contactless payment in seven months of 2021 increased in the category of medical services. There were 5.2 times more of them than in the same period in 2020. The number of payments also increased. Turnover increased 5.9 times, the average check - by 13%, to 2856 rubles. Most often, users paid contactless various services and goods from marketplaces. And the most expensive purchases were air tickets - 29,746 rubles, - says Ivan Glazachev. }}

St. Petersburg became the leader in the increase in the number of purchases and users paying using mobile payment systems: an increase of seven and 5.7 times, respectively. Residents of Moscow and the Krasnodar Territory also actively used pay payments. In terms of the growth dynamics of these indicators among bank card holders, all other regions are ahead of St. Petersburg: an increase of 3.7 and 2.8 times. Petersburgers are also in the lead in bills issued in social networks and instant messengers. But goods and services on credit or installments via the Internet were more often taken by Muscovites. The largest increase in the number of purchases, as well as the number of payers (3.6 times), was in the Bryansk region. YMoney cards and accounts were most often used by residents of St. Petersburg to pay for purchases. It also recorded the largest increase in the number of purchases and payers: by 40% and 113%, respectively.

Top 10 regions with the largest average checks on contactless payments for 7 months of 2021, rubles:

• Magadan region - 2166
• Jewish Autonomous Region - 2105
• Kamchatka Territory - 1935
• Primorsky Territory - 1820
• Amur Region - 1730
• Sakhalin Oblast - 1711
• Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - 1691
• Khabarovsk Territory - 1606
• Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - 1444
• Irkutsk region - 1391^[1]

2020: Yandex.Cash: Contactless payments affect the average check

Contactless payment through Apple Pay and Google Pay on sites or in applications is accepted by 19% of companies using Yandex.Cash. This was announced on February 12, 2020 by Yandex. In some product categories, the average check for contactless payment is noticeably more than for payment in other ways - for example, in clothing and footwear stores it is 5 times higher. Read more here.

2019

Russia entered the top five countries for purchases using wearable devices

In early December 2019, Mastercard published the results of a study on the popularity of wearable payment technologies, including smart watches, rings or bracelets with NFC technology support.

Holland is in 1st place in terms of payments with wearable devices: every third transaction takes place here (33%). In second place is Britain (18%), followed by Switzerland (8%) and Russia (7%). This applies to both active devices (requiring charging) and passive (not requiring charging): bracelets, rings and regular watches.

Mastercard published the results of a study on the popularity of wearable payment technologies, including smartwatches, rings or bracelets with NFC technology support

Most wearable device payments in the world are in, Australia followed by. are in the Netherlands USA ranking by 8 positions, and all other places in the top ten are occupied by European countries. To Europe The number of payments using wearable devices is growing: the total number of such transactions carried out last year is 19.4 times more than in. North America

Mastercard says that Europeans, including Russians, are increasingly paying for purchases with wearable devices with contactless technology. So, over the year, the number of payments made using such gadgets increased 8 times in Europe. More than 30 types of such payment means are available to users.

In 2019, 61% of purchases in European stores were paid for using contactless technology. The company associates this with the widespread use of wearable devices with NFC. The degree of implementation of this payment method in retail stores also increased significantly - from 42% to 70%

According to Mastercard calculations, by December 2019, one in five adults is wearing a smartwatch or fitness bracelet. By 2020, the global market for wearable devices will be measured at 30 billion euros, the company predicts.^[2]

Over the year, the popularity of contactless payments from smartphones has doubled in the Russian Federation

On November 22, 2019, it became known that MTS Bank studied the dynamics of the preferences of Russians when paying for goods and services from plastic cards and mobile contactless payment services.

An analysis of data from October 2018 and 2019 found that:

• over the past 12 months, the number of users of Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet (formerly Samsung Pay) has doubled, and plastic users by only 3%;
• in October 2019, MTS Bank cardholders using mobile contactless payment services paid 3.7 times more often in retail outlets than in plastic; a year earlier - 3.2 times more often.

As noted in MTS Bank, the popularity of payment using smartphones and gadgets in Russia is growing due to the convenience and security of payments, as well as the widespread use of cash POS terminals with contactless NFC readers in retail outlets. According to the international consulting company The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Russia is the largest market in terms of banking operations using digital services.

The use of a smartphone in payments continues to show rapid growth - the turnover and number of operations from October 2018 to October 2019 almost doubled, while the increase in plastic was only 11.2% and 18.4%, respectively.

• In October 2019, the share of contactless mobile services in the total turnover of card operations increased to 18.1% from 12.3% a year earlier, and the share of transactions - to 20.8% from 14.2%, respectively.
• At the end of 2019, Russians are also more likely to pay with a smartphone: on average, 23 payments per month against 16 from "plastic." In October 2018, there were 23 and 14 such payments, respectively.
• In October 2019, the amount of payments from one card through contactless payment services was 12,900 rubles, compared with 12,700 rubles a year earlier, from "plastic" - 10,100 rubles and 9,500 rubles, respectively.

In October 2019 Apple , Pay was the most popular service among MTS Bank customers. Despite the fact that in 2018 and in the first half of 2019, according to MTS, iPhone they occupied only the third place in sales, significantly inferior to smartphones Samsung and/. HuaweiHonor

• Apple Pay makes 49% of transactions, Google Pay 31% and Samsung Pay 20%. For comparison, in the same month last year, Apple Pay accounted for 53%, Google Pay - 25% and Samsung Pay - 22% of transactions.

MTS Bank believes that the growth of payments using mobile contactless payment services is directly related to the distribution and availability of NFC smartphones.

• The share of NFC smartphone sales in the MTS retail network in January-September 2019/2018 increased to 49.1% from 30.5% of the total number of smartphones sold.
• For nine months of 2019, sales of NFC smartphones increased in physical terms by 67%, in monetary terms - by 32% compared to the same period in 2018.
• The average price of an NFC smartphone in 2019 was 21,840 rubles, in the past - 27,774 rubles.

According to MTS Bank, the popularity of contactless payment services for paying for trips in public transport is growing: 7.7% of operations in October 2019 against 5% in October 2018. Including, the share of payments in buses (passenger city and intercity flights) more than tripled - to 2.9% from 0.9%, the share of transactions for taxi trips increased by one and a half times - to 2.5% from 1.7%. Buying food from supermarkets and grocery stores, as well as paying in cafes and restaurants, like a year ago, are the most popular payments. In October 2019, 63% of transactions from smartphones and 54% from "plastic" were made in these categories. A year earlier, these figures were 66% and 55%, respectively. Contactless mobile services are still much more popular than "plastic" in cafes and restaurants. In places of catering, payment by a smartphone is twice as popular as "plastic" (19.7% versus 9.5%) in terms of the share of transactions. The choice of payment method depends on the audience: the younger and technologically advanced one uses contactless payment services, the older one still gravitates more towards "plastic."^[3]

The market for non-cash payments in Russia has doubled in 3 years

The volume of the Russian market for non-cash payments Russia in 3 years has doubled. This was announced to journalists on September 19, Ekaterina Petelina 2019, which on November 1, 2019 leaves the post of general director of the representative office Visa in Russia.

At the same time, we are looking at such an indicator as the penetration of electronic payments into everyday spending of households, which grew from less than 20% to 37% - the market growth was due to this conversion, she said.

According to Petelina, the number of POS terminals in 3 years increased from 10 per 1000 people to 19 per 1000 people, which corresponds to the indicators of the largest payment markets in the world. At the same time, 90% of terminals in Russia are capable of receiving contactless cards and devices.

The volume of the Russian market for non-cash payments in Russia has doubled in 3 years

According to Kommersant, in May 2019, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Russia Olga Skorobogatova estimated the share of non-cash payments in retail turnover at 61%. She noted that the Central Bank plans to increase this share to 80% in four years. The forecast for the end of 2019 is 66%.

Ekaterina Petelina claims that by September 19, 2019, contactless technologies account for more than 70% of payments in Russia. In the first quarter of 2019, Russians performed 6.8 billion such operations in the amount of 5.7 trillion rubles.

According to Petelina, users of mobile payment systems make purchases more often. In the summer of 2019, OTP Bank disclosed that on average its customers make 11 purchases by card per month, but for Apple and Google Pay users this figure is almost 3 times higher - 31 purchases per month, Vedomosti writes.

According to the Bank of Russia, in 2019, transactions for payment by contactless method for the year increased 4.4 times in the Russian Federation, about a third of them were performed using smartphones.^[4]

Sellers in Russia began to use smartphones for card payments instead of POS terminals

On September 19, 2019, it became known that sellers in Russia began to use smartphones for bank card payments instead of POS terminals. Promsvyazbank has launched SoftPos technology for contactless card payments of any bank. Read more here.

SAS and PLAS log data

SAS, a player in the business analytics market, partnered with PLAS magazine in the spring of 2019 to find out how far contactless payment services - Apple Pay, Samsung Wallet (formerly Samsung Pay), Google Pay and others - compete with familiar bank cards. The results showed that contactless payments are the future regardless of specific form factors: only 8% of respondents use exclusively contact plastic cards. All other survey participants choose certain contactless payment tools - both mobile services and classic cards - including their various combinations.

Plastic still maintains its position. According to the survey, half of the respondents most often use them. At the same time, cards with a contactless and contact interface have become the most popular payment tool: 42% of respondents named them their main payment tool. Among alternative contactless services, Apple Pay turned out to be the most popular: with its help, 21% of respondents most often make payments. Android Pay and Apple Pay services are preferred by 6% and 4% of respondents. The rest of the survey participants, with the exception of the mentioned 8% of supporters of contact cards, do not allocate only one main payment means for themselves, but use approximately equally different payment methods in certain combinations: card and cash (10%), card and mobile services (8%), etc.

It is curious that contactless key fobs and bracelets with payment systems cards tied to them are still more curious gadgets than a working payment tool. Only 2% of respondents reported that they use such devices, but no one called them their main means of payment.

Despite the fact that plastic bank cards are still the main contactless payment tool, mobile form factors are also used quite often. Thus, 46% of respondents resort to them daily - including those users who have designated plastic as the preferred means of payment. About 13% of respondents are calculated through such services several times a week, 4% - several times a month, and only 31% are not familiar with them in practice.

The main reason why mobile contactless payment form factors are gaining popularity, 73% of respondents called the lack of need to carry a card with them - only a smartphone is enough to make a payment. The ability to carry out an operation for a small amount without a pin code became the second most important advantage - 59% of respondents emphasized it. For 43%, contactless technology as such has become a key argument in favor of mobile payment services, and another 20% attract additional bonuses that can be obtained when making payments in this way.

Despite the high level of loyalty to mobile contactless form factors, 51% of respondents faced difficulties in using them. At the same time, 23% were due to the insufficient prevalence of such tools - the payment could not be made, since the seller was not ready to accept it in this way. 28% of respondents had problems with reading. Single answers fell on options such as the phone hanging after payment, difficulties reading a fingerprint in Apple Pay, inability to pay due to phone discharge, etc.

Nevertheless, the survey participants are confident that the future is behind contactless mobile form factors - this point of view was expressed by 97% of respondents. At the same time, 40% believe that they will replace plastic over time, and 57% believe that they will become widespread along with plastic cards, which will also remain a popular means of payment.

2016

MasterCard and Visa data

According to MasterCard, the number of contactless transactions on cards of this payment system in Russia more than quadrupled in 2016. Visa calculated that 41% of Russian citizens owned contactless cards in 2016, 38% regularly used them. According to a survey of this international system, the main arguments in favor of this form of payment are convenience (83%), speed (56%) and the novelty of technology (18%). 52% of those who have not yet acquired it intend to issue a contactless card with a high degree of probability. At the same time, 77% of respondents are confident in the safety of transactions on contactless cards: 58% of respondents used a contactless card to pay for large purchases.

Launch of Visa, Mastercard, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay systems in Russia

In 2016, Visa and Mastercard payment systems launched their contactless payments.

According to a study by J'son Partners Consulting, according to the results of 2016, the audience of users of contactless payments in Russia, including mobile payments using NFC technology, can reach 7.5 million people.

This segment received an additional impetus for development with the entry of NFC-based mobile payment services into the Russian market in 2016, such as Samsung Wallet (formerly Samsung Pay) and Apple Pay. In the first week of the Apple Pay service, over 125 thousand Russians loaded their cards into it. And according to VTB24 Bank, Samsung Pay's turnover on bank customer cards tied to the service exceeded 1.2 million rubles in the first week of operation alone.

Central Bank expects an increase in contactless payments

In 2017, contactless payments in Russia will operate on three payment systems: Visa, Mastercard and NSPK. The Bank of Russia predicts a sharp increase in contactless payments in the country in 2017-2018. This was told by Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Skorobogatova at a speech in the State Duma.

In 2017, this system will be commissioned by the National Payment Card System (NSPK).

"This is our own technology, we develop it independently of other international systems, but it will work on the principle of international standards: it will be read everywhere - both here and abroad," said the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

NAFI: 5% of Russians have already tried NFC payments from a mobile device

5% of Russians have experience in contactless payment using a mobile phone, and 24% used contactless bank cards. This is evidenced by the results of an all-Russian survey conducted by the NAFI Analytical Center in October 2016.

About a third of Russians (30%) regularly pay for everyday purchases by cashless method. This is more characteristic of the highly educated part of the population (43%) and youth aged 24-35 years (40%). Nevertheless, the majority of Russians (70%) still pay for everyday goods and services in cash.

Up to 79% of Russians know about the existence of bank cards with the possibility of contactless payment, while they said that 24% of respondents used them. They have no experience, but 39% of Russians know well about the existence of such cards, another 16% have heard about them in general terms. Russians with higher education reported significantly more often about the presence of experience in contactless payment with cards (30% versus 22% of Russians without higher education).

65% of Russians are aware of the possibility of making contactless payments using a mobile phone. However, only 5% used this opportunity. Another 39% of Russians are informed about them, but did not practice such a payment method, and one in four admitted that they had heard about this technology only in general terms (21%). More than a third of Russians (36%) know nothing about the possibility of contactless payment for purchases using a mobile device.

The presence in the phone of the technical ability to make contactless payments will be the defining characteristic of buying the next smartphone for every tenth Russian (10%). For 30%, this will be a significant bonus. Every second noted that this technical function will not play a role when buying a gadget (50%).

Market Analysis from Russian Standard Bank

In September 2016, Bank Russian Standard presented statistics on the dynamics of contactless payments of its acquiring network (one of the largest in Russia) for 2014, 2015, the first half of 2016.

Turn

The share of contactless payments by turnover increased from 0.5% in 2014 to 1.2% in 2015. And in the first half of 2016 it amounted to 2.1%. This is due to the convenience of using such cards to pay for purchases in the "restaurants" segments, including "fast food," as well as in the "retail" segment - providing the largest share in the total volume of transactions. These 2 segments account for more than 90% of the turnover on contactless payments.

At the same time, in 2016, the share of contactless transactions in the restaurants segment reaches 6.6% of all bank card payments. Bank Russian Standard sees from the analysis of statistical data that most of the small purchases in restaurants (especially fast food) people pay with cards using contactless technology.

Quantity

In general, the trend in the number of transactions resembles the trend in turnover - the share increased from 1.1% in 2014 to 2.9% in 2015. And in the first half of 2016, it amounted to 5.7%.

But it should be further noted that the share of contactless transactions by the number of operations in the restaurants segment reaches 9.1% in 2016, and in 2015 this indicator was at the level of 2.4%, in 2014 - 3%. In second place in terms of the frequency of contactless payments is the entertainment segment - 3.5% in 2016.

Average check

Obviously, contactless payments mainly account for small purchases. The average check of payment by card in the acquiring network of the Russian Standard Bank in 2016 is 1,253 rubles. for ordinary payments by card, and for contactless payments - 450 rubles, for comparison: 2015 - 1,222 rubles. and 540 rubles; in 2014 - 1,408 rubles. and 584 rubles. respectively.

It should also be noted that in the bank's acquiring network, the average check for the "restaurants" segment for contactless payments is 30% lower than for ordinary payments by card (contact-free - 323 rubles against - 456 rubles contact payment). A similar situation in the segment "hotels, accommodation" - the average check of a contactless transaction is 3 times lower than the contact one. But in the segment "health" the opposite situation is the average check for contactless payments - 11,186 rubles, against 2,971 rubles for ordinary payments by bank card.

In recent years, there has been no significant increase in the acquiring network of transactions on cards with contactless technology from new significant card issuers. The number of large issuing banks seriously increased in the early years of the launch of the technology, starting in 2011. Now the growth of indicators is due to the number of transactions, turnover and the average check.

The popularity of NFC payments for travel in the Moscow metro has grown 3 times

The number of passengers paying for metro travel using the Mobile Ticket service has tripled in six months. This was told by Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, Head of the Department of Transport and Development of Road Transport Infrastructure in March 2016^[1].

"Now 37 thousand people a month pay for metro travel using mobile phones with a special NFC module. And the number of users of the new service is constantly growing. Thanks to the introduction of a new ticket menu, we have already managed to halve the queues at the metro ticket office and three times reduce the number of passengers purchasing tickets from ground transport drivers. "Mobile ticket" allows passengers not to think about buying tickets and makes travel in public transport even more convenient for Muscovites, "explained Maxim Liksutov

Today, about 150 thousand were released with support for NFC technology in Moscow. SIM cards. Their owners can pay for the bus, tram and trolleybus by simply attaching a mobile phone to the validator reader.

2012

VimpelCom and Megafon are experimenting with NFC in the St. Petersburg metro

VimpelCom temporarily curtailed in October 2012 its project to implement fare payment in the St. Petersburg metro using NFC technology from a mobile phone. The company explains this by the completion of the pilot project, which took place over four months (from May 18 to September 26).

'Within its framework, a comprehensive study of consumer demand for the service and the capabilities of NFC technology was held. The results obtained by us generally testify to the high efficiency of the technology for the development of fare payment services in public transport, as well as their demand by the mass user, and will help us implement a full-fledged scalable solution for mass use, the development of which the company plans to complete in 1 half of 2013, "- said the press service of VimpelCom.

The solution used now, developed in collaboration with Ambik Tek and launched into test operation in the summer of 2011, from the very beginning had a number of drawbacks: a special NFC module was required to be installed in the phone, using a cable connected in parallel to the SIM card and placed under the battery. Given the tendency to make phones as thin and compact as possible, the module in most modern devices (even considering the presence of four different form factors) either did not fit, or it was difficult to install the loop correctly. Beeline announced support for 80% of phones, however, apparently, it was about the entire fleet available, and not about modern models. At the same time, the built-in NFC modules available in modern smartphones were not supported (for comparison, MegaFon launched a system in Yekaterinburg with external chips, but also support for the built-in NFC). Moreover, the target audience of the service is just advanced subscribers interested in new technologies, who are more likely to use the incompatible Samsung Galaxy S III than the compatible Nokia 3310.

The timing of the implementation of the NFC project "Beeline" has been repeatedly postponed. So, in May 2012, it was about the transition from test pilot operation to commercial pilot operation, the difference between which was that at the initial stage, which started in the summer of 2011, only 100 people tested the service. (they were selected by Bilain on their own, then they participated in focus groups), and in 2012 it was planned to attract up to 2,000 subscribers, while anyone could test the service.

Beeline does not disclose the actual number of beta testers, commenting that the goal was not mass testing, but to achieve certain results. However, it is not difficult to calculate their number: judging by the number of transactions carried out, there were no more than 600 of them, since each tester, buying a module for 125 rubles, also received 5 trips, and, accordingly, would hardly use them. The commercial pilot was supposed to begin back in December 2011, however, due to difficulties with customs clearance, their delivery modules were disrupted and the launch had to be postponed. It was supposed to last until early October, after which it was immediately planned to be transferred to commercial operation. Now it is postponed for almost a year, which demonstrates the attitude towards the project as a non-priority.

Actually, the NFC project is not commercial, but image. The experience of MegaFon, whose NFC-MegaChips in the five million city is used by a couple of hundred people, has already proved this: with the current implementation, payment NFC projects are toys for geeks that are completely unsuitable in real life.

Plans to organize a passage system to the St. Petersburg metro using NFC were also reported by Megaphone"." In addition, contactless payment systems can work, for example, in a cafe (such a project is already being developed), and an NFC phone can be used as a pass - to a school, university, for some objects that require registration or identification, says an employee of the Megafon press service. It will also be possible to connect to the discount system - a person will be able to combine all the discount cards he has and use the phone to get a discount, he promises^[2].

Forecast of the volume of payments in Russia in 2012 - 30-150 million rubles

According to J'son & Partners Consulting forecasts, the volume of the carrier mobile payments market of the "Big Three" mobile operators in 2012 will amount to about 15-18 billion rubles. With an optimistic forecast, by 2017 the volume of mobile payment transactions in Russia made using NFC-enabled devices will exceed 50 billion rubles, i.e. will amount to about 1% of the world market. Most of the surveyed experts estimated this indicator in 2011 at less than 30 million rubles; forecast for 2012 - 30-150 million rubles.

As of July 2012, pilot projects are being implemented in Russia to demonstrate the capabilities of NFC, developing billing and technological aspects, business models, etc. The main restraining factors of NFC development in Russia are low awareness of potential users about the capabilities of this technology, insufficient infrastructure development and imperfection of Russian industry legislation.

The main participants in the nascent NFC market are the "big three" cellular operators, the largest banks and payment systems. Thus, MTS it implements NFC projects "Quick refueling" at LUKOIL gas stations, payment for goods in UVENCO vending machines (both in), Perm a joint MasterCard payment MTS-Bank solution based on NFC technology for contactless payment of goods and services from a phone using MasterCardPayPass technology, etc.

8 banks issue MasterCard PayPass cards

As of July 2012, 8 Russian banks are issuers of MasterCard PayPass contactless cards, the use of which significantly reduces the time of customer service in the retail sector and services.

2011: MTS and VimpelCom test NFC in metro

In 2010, MTS announced plans to test the NFC fare payment system in the Moscow metro. Testing was completed in the first quarter of 2011, the decision to launch the project into commercial operation depends on the management of the metro, said a source close to MTS.

On October 5, 2011, it became known that MTS was launching Russia's first instant mobile payment system based on NFC technology. With the help of a phone with an NFC antenna, it will be possible to pay for gasoline at Lukoil gas stations - first in Perm, and then in other regions (More about the project)

MTS competitors are also testing NFC payments. VimpelCom planned to launch an NFC project in the St. Petersburg metro by the end of 2011, promised the operator's press secretary Anna Aibasheva. But the operator is guided, according to her, by the massive commercial operation of NFC and is working on several options for joint projects not only with transport companies, but also with large retailers and banks. Earlier, VimpelCom reported that it was testing contactless payment for travel on Aeroexpress trains.

Notes