The Central Bank of Russia published payment statistics for January–March 2025 showing a shift toward cashless methods that do not require bank cards, such as QR codes, e-wallets and biometric payments. The number of these transactions rose by around one third year on year to nearly 11 billion, while bank cards remained the main payment instrument but with transaction counts declining for a second consecutive quarter. QR code and biometric payments totalled about 800 million transactions, almost double the level in the same period of 2024, with purchases exceeding RUB 1.1 trillion (up RUB 389 billion). Card payments for goods and services amounted to 14.9 billion transactions (up 0.1 billion) worth RUB 13.6 trillion (down RUB 0.2 trillion), and banks expanded acceptance infrastructure as the number of POS terminals increased by almost 10% year on year to 4.9 million.
Central Bank of Russia 2025-06-10
Central Bank of Russia releases Q1 2025 statistics showing rapid growth in QR and biometric payments as card transactions soften
The Central Bank of Russia reported a significant increase in cashless transactions using QR codes, e-wallets, and biometric payments, rising by one third year on year to nearly 11 billion in Q1 2025. QR code and biometric payments nearly doubled to 800 million transactions, with purchases exceeding RUB 1.1 trillion. Despite bank cards remaining the primary payment method, their transaction counts declined for the second consecutive quarter.