T-Bank has announced the installation of new terminals that will support payment via biometrics, bank cards, and QR codes. By the end of 2025, this service will be available throughout Russia. The terminals will start appearing in stores and cafes in Moscow, then in major cities, and by the end of the year — throughout the country. New clients will receive the terminals for free, and old devices can be replaced at will.
T-Bank will compete with Sberbank, which already has more than 1.3 million terminals with the "pay with a smile" function. By the end of 2025, their number will grow to 1.5 million. In the first half of 2025, the volume of transactions via biometrics in Sberbank reached 72.7 billion rubles, which is 20 times more compared to the previous year.
According to the Central Bank, in the first quarter of 2025, Russians made 800 million payments via biometrics and QR codes, which is twice as much as in 2024. The total amount of payments exceeded 1.1 trillion rubles. Biometric technologies are also being introduced in other areas, such as paying for travel on the subway and verifying age when purchasing goods. Experts believe that integration with government and commercial services will create unified scenarios for payment and identification.
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