The Russian National Payment Card System (NSPK), along with banks, is testing a new payment system via NFC in the Fast Payment System (FPS) which can turn a smartphone into a payment terminal. It is enough for the buyer to bring his/her smartphone to the seller’s smartphone.

Izvestia reported about it with reference to the NSPK (payment and clearing center of the SBP). First the client needs to install the SBPay application. The utility works on Android version 6.0 or higher and iOS starting from version 13. That is, payments via NFC will be available to iPhone owners as well.

“Payment acceptance via SoftPOS can be used in various trade and service enterprises. We are confident that it will be in demand, including by small and medium-sized businesses, as it allows to turn a smartphone based on the Android operating system with an NFC-module into a mobile terminal without the help of extra equipment and quickly offer the client a convenient and secure method of non-cash payment,” NSPK explained.

Delobank has successfully tested the technology and is ready for its industrial use, Irina Kuzmina, director of the bank, told Izvestiya. She said that in order to make a payment, it is enough for the buyer to bring his/her phone to the smartphone-terminal. It is necessary to select a bank for payment on the page that will automatically open in smartphone browser and confirm the operation. After payment, the money is instantly credited to the entrepreneur’s current account, Irina Kuzmina emphasized.

VTB also plans to launch a solution for accepting payments via SBP using a smartphone for SME clients. The Russian National Commercial Bank (RNKB) is also planning to pilot and implement the solution.

SoftPOS technology that turns smartphone into a payment terminal existed in the market before. It was previously developed by Visa, Mastercard and Mir. The latter’s representative stated that the technology is actively used by thousands of enterprises.

The relevance of the SoftPOS solution is especially high in modern conditions, when the demand for daily courier delivery of goods is actively growing, namely SoftPOS allows convenient acceptance of non-cash payments by couriers and agents, Russian Standard Bank noted.

At the same time, at the initial stage of implementation, the technology can cause mistrust on the part of users, Egor Krivosheya, head of research at the Skolkovo-NES Center for Research in Financial Technologies and Digital Economy, fears.

He explained: it may not be clear for the Russians why bring their own smartphone to someone else’s smartphone. It is not excluded that the citizens will begin to fear fraudulent transactions. However, according to the expert, the risk is minimized by basic informing about the new payment method.

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