Financial technology (fintech) in Russia

Global Fintech Market

Main article: Fintech Market (FinTech)

Russian Banking Informatization Market

Main article: Russian market of banking informatization

2025: Top 10 Fintech Trends

Technology plays a key role in the transformation of companies, industries and the economy as a whole. To successfully implement innovative solutions, organizations are changing their business approaches, creating new business models, including in the financial market. In a review dated February 6, 2025, the FinTech Association outlined 10 main trends in the corresponding sector of the Russian market.

1. BigTech and BigBanks

Large technology companies are actively entering the financial market, competing with other participants, primarily banks, which radically changes the dynamics of the industry. IT players benefit from their large amounts of consumer data, recognizable brand, and customer loyalty. In turn, traditional banks invest heavily in the development of their own technological solutions.

2. Built-in finance

We are talking about the seamless integration of digital banking services, as well as other financial products and services into the platforms or applications of non-financial companies. This allows users to access a variety of financial services such as online banking, lending, investment and insurance without having to switch to dedicated financial platforms. This integration greatly simplifies the process of managing personal finances and conducting transactions.

3. Multi-segment banking

This direction involves the expansion of banking segments, in particular, the creation of family banking services, products for children and the older generation, self-employed and freelancers.

4. QR-isation

Analysts talk about the ubiquity of QR code payments as an alternative to traditional bank cards. This shift is due to a change in consumer preferences and the development of technology. Users can shop by simply scanning the QR code with their smartphone, eliminating the need for a physical card or cash.

5. Multimodal bioequiring

New payment systems based on unique biometric data of a person use not only familiar parameters, such as fingerprints, retina and voice, but also other characteristics, including the pattern of veins in the palm of the hand, smile, etc.

6. Digital currencies

Most regulators conduct research in the field of crypto assets, primarily digital currencies of central banks (CBDC). They can be used not only for everyday settlements, but also for cross-border operations. In addition, private alternatives - stablecoins - attract attention.

7. Tokenization of Real World Assets

This is the creation of digital versions of traditional financial instruments, as well as assets of the real sector of the economy, which make it possible to significantly simplify and speed up the processes of their exchange and management. The most common asset in tokenization projects for 2017-2024 is corporate bonds with a share of 52%.

8. Scaling Open Data

Economies around the world recognize the importance of scaling the Open Data Interface (API) environment and are working to move from the initial stages of information exchange to the Open Data phase. The initiative, in particular, will contribute to the implementation of personal finance management services in a single window.

9. Digital Infrastructure and Commercial Platforms

The trend involves the creation of a national digital infrastructure (NCI) and its integration with commercial platforms to achieve synergistic effect and maximum seamless.

10. Artificial intelligence in regulation and oversight

The combination of AI and regulatory and supervisory technologies (RegTech, Suptech) is expected to create more effective solutions aimed at ensuring compliance. AI models can help banks and other financial institutions adapt quickly to ever-changing legislation.^[1]

2023

The Russian fintech market for the year grew by 19.8% and reached 223.8 billion rubles

At the end of 2023, the total revenue of the 100 largest fintech companies in Russia reached 223.8 billion rubles. This is 19.8% more than the result for the previous year. Such data are reflected in the study of the VTB accelerator and the IIDF accelerator, the results of which TAdviser got acquainted with at the end of January 2025.

It is noted that projects focused on the B2B segment dominate the Russian ecosystem of fintech startups: more than 80% of players offer solutions for automation and optimization of business processes. This is due to the high demand from small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), as well as the greater margin of transactions. In 2023, it is estimated that 38% of investments came from startups that create products for SMEs, including crowdfunding platforms and B2B automation systems. Fintech is among the five most attractive areas for investment. The key areas are crowdlanding, wealth management and AI solutions for finance, which set the trends for the further development of the industry.

In terms of penetration of fintech services (Global Fintech Adoption index), Russia is in third place in the world with a result of 82% after China and India, the indicators of which are estimated at 87% (in each of the countries). The number of individuals who remotely opened accounts in 2024 reached 381.26 thousand, which is 6.5% more than in the previous year. At the same time, the share of non-cash payments in retail rose from 78.1% to 83.4%.

The study says that in 2024, 78.7% of the adult population of Russia had instant access to financial applications. For comparison, in 2021 this figure was 76.2%. Not only the demand for instant access to financial instruments is growing, but also the popularity of various payment methods: from physical media (bracelets, gadgets with NFC, etc.) to biometric solutions, such as payment with a smile. More and more users of financial services are residents of small towns and rural residents, citizens with disabilities and the elderly.

Russian payment services show the largest revenue, but the growth rate of this fintech segment is slowing down. Experts attribute the observed trend to the gradual monopolization and concentration of this market sector in the hands of large corporations, as well as to the strategy of marketplaces to implement their own payment solutions, such as Ozon Bank and WB Wallet.

The total volume of venture capital investments in Russia in 2023 is estimated at $118.3 million, of which 5%, or about $6 million, fell on the fintech sector. The number of transactions increased slightly compared to 2022: investors began to carefully form their portfolios, preferring smaller amounts of investments. In 2023, only one major deal took place in the fintech segment: this is a C + round of a lending service secured by Car Money. The average transaction check in 2023 amounted to 42 million rubles, which is 44% less than in 2022, and the volume of investments from business angels for the two years under consideration averaged 15 million rubles.

At the same time, the fintech market in 2023 became one of the most attractive niches for mergers and acquisitions: payment services were especially often involved in such transactions, the high demand for which is associated with the need to replace foreign providers who left Russia. In 2023, crowdlanding and crowdfunding platforms, personal finance management services and B2B automation systems also actively attracted investments.^[2]

Throw and pay. How a new payment method is developing in Russia

In May 2023, Smart Ranking analysts published a study of the Russian payment sticker market. They are a sticker with an NFC chip built into it and work like regular debit bank cards. Read more here.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has created a repository of IT solutions for the financial industry

On March 2, 2023, Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of Russia, announced the creation by the regulator of a repository of IT solutions for the financial industry. Read more here

2022: Market growth by a third to RUB 138.88 billion

The volume of the Russian financial technology market in 2022 reached 138.88 billion rubles, an increase of a third (by 32.7%) compared to 2021. This is evidenced by the data of the Smart Ranking agency, which were released in early May 2023.

According to the researchers, the significant growth of the Russian fintech market was the result of several factors:

• the introduction by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of a ban on banks from using SWIFT in transfers within Russia;
• disconnection of Visa and MasterCard payment systems;
• termination of Apple Pay and Google Pay services;
• increasing the debt burden of the population;
• requirements for import substitution of products of foreign IT corporations Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Cisco;
• unprecedented growth in cross-border transfers: in 2022, remittances from Russia to neighboring countries increased by 300-500%.

The volume of the Russian financial technology market reached 138.88 billion rubles

Smart Ranking notes that sanctions and the departure of foreign vendors, blocking the usual promotion channels forced players to urgently revise their strategies and look for new solutions that could patch up the holes that have formed. Many Russian companies had to adjust their plans - the rating participants note that on average, about 25-50% were not enough for the initially intended revenue targets for 2022. It is the consequences of sanctions (especially the transition to new payment systems) that have become the main driver of the growth of domestic fintech, analysts point out, whose data is provided by Forbes magazine.

The group remained the largest player in the Russian financial technology market, Qiwi which in 2022 earned about 35.23 billion rubles on such decisions, which is 52.5% more than a year ago. In second place in the rating is the YukAssa SberbankYuMoney project affiliated with the Electronic Payment Service and managed by it. Their total revenue, according to SR, in 2022 increased by 15% and amounted to 24 billion rubles. According to Dmitry Karmishin, commercial director of YuMoney, payment scenarios and the context of doing business have changed in 2022.

Many companies had to rebuild their business model and look for an alternative to the departed Apple Pay and Google Pay, change software and familiar communication channels. We at YuKassa were able to quickly offer our customers alternative payment methods: SberPay, payment with cards linked to Sberbank ID, electronic wallets "YuOney," by QR code and through MirPay, "he said.

The third position is occupied by the Solar Staff service for automation of payments to teams and freelancers, which earned more than 12 billion rubles in 2022 and increased its revenue by 64.5%. According to the head and co-founder of the company Pavel Shinkarenko, Solar Staff planned to receive revenue from new markets and products, but did not have time to launch a new product on time and eventually received revenue from new markets, but with old products.

This was mainly due to a decrease in the number of competitors: there were several events in our area that turned out to be disastrous for them, he explains. - Firstly, this tightening of requirements and new KYC procedures, sanctions and counter-sanctions - all this required investments, but not all of them had them. Secondly, the so-called cryptozyme affected. The deeper the companies were integrated into cryptocurrency, the more they suffered. Thirdly, startups, which were heavily dependent on investment rounds, did not survive due to the outflow of investments. Weak players left the market, and strong players rose.[3]

2021: Russian fintech market doubles

The volume of the Russian financial technology market at the end of 2021 reached 67.1 billion rubles, having more than doubled compared to 2017, when the indicator was measured at 31.7 billion rubles. This is stated in a study that BusinesStat analysts released in August 2022.

Most of the market under consideration in 2021 fell on payments and transaction processing - about 40.9 billion rubles. Expenses on financial technologies for business reached 11 billion rubles, on solutions in the field of personal finance - 6.2 billion rubles, on fintech solutions for banks - 9 billion rubles.

The fintech market of the Russian Federation has doubled in 5 years

According to experts, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has made noticeable adjustments to the plans of companies around the world. The measures that were introduced by the governments of the countries led to a partial or complete shutdown of companies and a partial freeze of IT developments. Financial technology companies were forced to look for new channels for commercialization and development of their services, including going directly to retail customers.

Analysts note that in comparison with other markets, the financial technology market in 2021 managed to show positive dynamics even at the peak of the pandemic. Financial technologies are among the actively developing industries. Innovative approaches to the delivery of services have changed the essence of financial flows and formed the need to develop new solutions for the financial sector, according to a study published in August 2022.

According to researchers, the sanctions introduced in 2022 by the EU and the United States led to the departure from Russia of a number of foreign companies operating in the fintech sphere. Under the current conditions, domestic developers got the opportunity to occupy the vacant niche of this sector. Given the competent use of existing potential in the future, this will provide an additional incentive for the development of financial technologies in the country.^[4]

2019: Russia enters the top three countries in terms of fintech services popularity

Russia entered the top three countries in terms of the popularity of fintech services. This is evidenced by the results of the EY study, released on November 21, 2019.

Experts estimated the penetration index of fintech services in Russia at 82%. The higher rate is only in China and India (87%). The top five also included South Africa (82%) and Colombia (76%). Read more here.

2018: Fintech market growth by 12% to RUB 54bn - Deloitte

In October 2018, the consulting company Deloitte published the results of a study of the Russian financial technology market. Experts expect a 12 percent growth of this market to 54 billion rubles at the end of 2018.

According to the economic information agency Prime, citing data from Deloitte, 76% of companies positively assess the current state of the market from the point of view of the financial well-being of the business. 60% of respondents are optimistic about the prospects for market development.

The Russian financial technology market is predicted to grow to 54 billion rubles in 2018

From the beginning of 2017 to October 2018, 17 transactions totaling 19 billion rubles were concluded on the Russian financial technology market. The average age of a company working in this sector is 3 years, and the average number of employees in one company is 15 people.

Among the factors contributing to the rise of the fintech market, experts attribute the growing demand for services in Russia, the  activity of the regulator, as a result of which infrastructure is formed, as well as the dynamic supply - regular entry into the market of new products and services.

The most popular financial technologies in the Russian Federation include payments, money transfers, scoring (credit assessment ) and lending. Market participants attribute great prospects to artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, deep learning and big data.

Among the main barriers that hinder the development of the financial technology market are the unattractive sector for external investors, low solvency of the population and geopolitical risks.

Deloitte notes that financial technologies in Russia are developing unevenly. Thus, breakthrough projects are available mainly to residents of million-plus cities or clusters, where they purposefully develop technological infrastructure and teach people to use it.^[5]

Notes