Digital Payments Surpass Cash and Cards in Russia, Led by Bluetooth, QR Codes and Biometrics

23:00; 13 March 2026 year

### Russians Embrace Alternative Payment Methods in 2025 In 2025, Russians significantly increased their use of alternative cashless payment methods not tied to bank cards. According to payment statistics, new contactless payment technologies are spreading rapidly. One of the fastest-growing tools has been Bluetooth-based payments. This payment method began to gain traction in the third quarter of the previous year and by the end of 2025 had reached significant scale: users conducted approximately 35 million transactions worth over 33 billion rubles (approximately $450 million). Other popular contactless payment methods, such as QR code payments and biometric payments, also saw steady growth. The number of such transactions increased 1.8 times over the year, while the total payment volume grew 1.4 times. As a result, Russians conducted about 4 billion such transactions in 2025, totaling 5.7 trillion rubles (approximately $78 billion). Another driver of cashless payments was the increased use of e-wallets. Their popularity is largely due to the spread of marketplaces and integrated payment services on online platforms. In 2025, users conducted 8.8 billion transactions through e-wallets, totaling 13.3 trillion rubles (approximately $183 billion). Compared to 2024, the number of transactions increased 1.4 times, and their volume grew 1.6 times. As a result, the share of alternative payment methods in the cashless payments market continued to grow. Over the year, it increased by 4.5 percentage points, reaching 14.1% of the total volume of cashless payments.

Investment

Events

Niches and markets

Technologies and trends

Development infrastructure