In March 2022 Apple Pay and Google Pay contactless payment services for Visa and MasterCard cards stopped operating in Russia.

Nikolay Solovey, project manager of the mobile development department at Friflex, told RB.ru how to continue paying at the checkout without cards and wallets.
 
“The Russian Miracle” in the field of card payments has brought Russia to top 5 leading countries in terms of the transition of the population to non-cash payment methods. In the first six months of 2021, the number of contactless payments increased by 36% compared to the same period in 2020.

A new consumer habit - to pay with contactless mobile services - has been formed in society.

Until recently, 76% of purchases from mobile systems were made with Apple Pay, the remaining 24% – with Google Pay.

Mobile payment apps։ large retailers started accepting contactless payments via mobile apps.

For example, the Magnit chain of stores has launched a new Magnit Pay service. Payment for purchases at the checkout can now be made via a mobile application with a virtual Magnit card. To do this, it is necessary to add funds to the card account and show the QR code at the checkout. The first time the seller counts the bonus card, and the second time writes off the money. Magnit Pay is a full-fledged bank card that can be used to pay for purchases in other Russian online stores.

And a feature has been launched in the Dixie Friends Club app that allows to pay for purchases using a barcode. It will be enough for the user to show a barcode with a loyalty card, and by “push” notification go to the payment screen and click on the “Pay SFP” button. After that, he/she will see the amount to be paid and the address of the store.

As soon as the client confirms the payment, he/she will be offered all the banking applications installed on the device. To make a payment, it is necessary to select the current banking application.

In addition, the Burger King mobile application allows to pay for an order with “Thank You” bonuses from SberBank. To pay with bonuses, it is necessary to add any Sberbank card to the application. After its verification, the user can pay up to 99% of the order cost with points.



Payment in POS-terminals

An alternative option for Google Pay is the Huawei Pay mobile payment system. Several Russian banks have already been connected to Huawei Pay since 2021.

Now it works with cards of the UnionPay payment system, and in the near future plans to support the Mir payment system.

Biometrics։ fingerprint payment at Azbuka Vkusa and pay-with-a glance at Perekryostok

Sberbank and Azbuka Vkusa have jointly improved the payment service using fingerprint scanning technology. Buyers can complete their shopping by scanning their finger at a dedicated POS-terminal with a built-in biometric scanner. Payment is completed in a couple of seconds. The service is already available at 20 supermarkets of the network. For biometric payment, it is necessary to first bind two fingerprints to a bank card and get through a quick registration at the store’s checkout.

Pay-with-a-glance method can be used at self-checkouts in Perekryostok supermarkets. The camera instantly recognizes the face image and correlates it with a unique number linked to biometric data and a bank account. To activate the service, it is necessary to go to “Sberbank Online” and activate the “Pay-with-a-glance” option by selecting the desired card.

“The blocking of Apple Pay and Google Pay in Russia does not mean that we will no longer be able to pay with gadgets. There are alternatives to these services. Instead of Google Pay, you can connect Mir Pay, SBPay or SberPay.

Services work stably thanks to the use of Russian infrastructure. The NFC wireless transmission technology allows any bank to develop its own payment service for OS Android smartphones,” Nikolay Solovey said.



Banks.am reminds that Gazprombank developed GazpromPay payment system for making payments when using online stores. It works with the cards of all Russian banks and supports all devices that have access to Internet.

The bank’s representatives says the system allows customers to link existing bank cards, as well as issue virtual cards for instant purchases. There will be no need to install additional apps to use the system.

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