QR code payments are taking away from the share of classical acquiring. Within a few years, this method of money transfer will hold 15% of the cashless payment market in Russia.

Izvestiya reports that such is the forecast of the largest Russian banks. According to the National Payment Card System (NSPK), almost 40% of Russians have already tested the technology. At the same time, credit organizations underline they do not envision a decrease of commission fee for card payments in order to maintain the popularity of the transactions, because the service is already on the verge of profitability.

QR code payments are the most popular new payment technology among Russians now: 57% of the citizens are aware of it and 38% have already used it to make purchases. This is stated in the study “World of Plat.form” («Мир Plat.form», and IT brand of NSPK). The study report says that half of consumers make purchases mainly via bank cards and a quarter of consumers use smartphones (services like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Mir.Pay).

The businesses’ interest toward QR code payments has to do with commission fees being lower than those for card payments – from 0.4% to 0.7%, NSPK explained. Moreover, companies do not need to buy additional equipment for the QR code payment method, and the amount is transferred to the account immediately.

The largest credit organizations have confirmed to Izvestiyan that QR code payments are actively developing as a method. The volume of such transactions grows on average by 30% monthly, Delobank said. According to VTB Bank, these operations make less than 1% of the total volume of acquiring, but in the medium-term perspective, the technology can take up 5-15% of the market in the areas, where card usage is less convenient and profitable.

In a two-year perspective, this payment method can take up 15-20% share in e-commerce and 7-10%in offline commerce, said Otkritie Bank.

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