According to Izvestia, Russia is already working on contactless payment technology for the iOS and Android mobile platforms. Some banks, according to the publication, have already wanted to test the system, and experts told how it will function.
According to the source, the technology is being developed by the National Payment Card System (NSPK). It is based not on NFC, but on Bluetooth, so it will be possible to pay without a card even with an iPhone, by applying the gadget to the terminal. The estimated launch date of the service is the second half of 2025. According to Izvestia, they already want to introduce it in Sberbank. Senior Vice President of the bank Dmitry Malykh said that the technology is compatible with the bank’s terminals.
NSPK JSC provides everyone, businesses and the state with the products and services based on Russian technologies, convenient, secure and available to all, whereby preserving the sovereignty of the Russian payment market for all Russian citizens and for the State we create and develop payment services convenient, beneficial and available to all, whereby supporting the country’s sovereignty and setting up the industry standards.
According to experts, the new technology works without the Internet and is more convenient than paying with QR codes and bank stickers. It is assumed that the NSPK will create the technology and provide it to banks, and they will be able to implement it on their side by modifying the terminals. According to Dmitry Dubynin, General Director of NSPK, only a prototype has been created so far.
NSPK JSC’s objectives are to ensure uninterrupted processing of transactions performed with the international payment systems’ cards in Russia, to establish and develop the National Payment System.
In March 2014, after the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russia in connection with the annexation of Crimea, the international payment systems Visa and MasterCard for the second time in history stopped servicing cards of several Russian banks in retail outlets and ATMs of the international network. The preparation of amendments to the Federal Law “On the National Payment System” was initiated in order to infrastructurally and informationally enclose the process of money transfers within Russia.
On July 23, 2014, the joint-stock company National Payment Card System (NSPK JSC) was established with two tasks:
- Creation of an operational and clearing center for processing domestic transactions on cards of international payment systems.
- Issue and promotion of the national payment card.
Vladimir Komlev, who previously headed United Credit Card Company (UCS), was appointed CEO of the NSPK JSC.
Since April 2015, all domestic MasterCard transactions have been fully transferred to the NSPK processing. Cards of international payment systems became operational in Crimea.
In June 2015, all domestic Visa transactions were finally transferred to the NSPK processing.
The NSPK signed several agreements on joint issuance of co-branded cards with international payment systems:
- June 19, 2015 — with MasterCard for cards of Maestro;
- July 7, 2015 — with Japanese JCB;
- July 2015 — with American Express.
On December 15, 2015, the NSPK announced the issuance of the first Mir cards by seven Russian banks.
In 2017, the National Payment Card System became a member of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC).
In 2022, due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express suspended their operations in Russia, as a result:
- cards of these systems issued by Russian banks do not work abroad and on the websites of foreign online stores.
- cards of these systems issued by foreign banks do not work in Russia.
However, Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards issued by Russian banks continue to work in Russia. This is possible due to the fact that transactions on them are processed by the National Payment Card System.
At the end of 2022, NSPK’s net profit according to RAS increased 2.58 times, amounting to 25.3 billion rubles. The company’s revenue by the end of the year amounted to 50.3 billion rubles, assets — 69.8 billion rubles. NSPK also paid dividends of 4.9 billion rubles in 2022 to its sole shareholder, the Bank of Russia, which is 805 million rubles more than a year earlier.
Vladimir Komlev was the CEO of NSPK from the company’s foundation until the end of 2023. On January 1, 2024, he left the post. On May 29, 2024, it became known that Dmitry Dubynin would become the new head of NSPK, such a decision was made by the National Financial Board of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
Vladislav Laptev, a top manager at fintech developer and integrator Fork-Tech, believes that the new technology will be similar to PayPal Beacon. The system works on the basis of Bluetooth LE as follows: the terminal recognizes the customer as soon as he enters the store, and after confirming his presence and receiving a transaction request, the person needs to pay for the purchase using the consent in the application. Moreover, the terminal sends a request to the person who is closest to it.
According to Artem Zhuravlev, director of the Method product at the fintech company Paygine, the technology will become available to a wide audience in 2026. However, first, according to him, it is necessary to make sure that security and compatibility issues are resolved.
