Biometric payments becoming widespread in Russia: Report

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) Biometric payments have become widespread in Russia, according to a report on Thursday.

The report by Sber Bank showed that the total turnover of payments using biometric technology amounted to 28 billion rubles ($331 million).

This result significantly exceeds the total number of transactions for the entire year 2024, which amounted to 26 million.

Further, the report showed that the number of terminals across the country has exceeded 1 million.

The terminal network covers the entire territory of Russia, including remote regions.

Notably, the Smile Payment service, available throughout the country, continues to gain popularity, with Moscow and St. Petersburg remaining the key leading cities.

Other million-plus cities like Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm stand out among the regions.

Russians have already made more than 35 million payments with Smile in the first quarter of 2025, said the report.

"Russia has become the first country in the world where payment using biometrics has become widespread. The service is available to any citizen over the age of 18 throughout the country, including the affiliated regions," said Dmitry Malykh, senior vice president and the head of the transactional banking unit of Sber.

"The number of transactions for the first quarter of 2025 has already exceeded the figures for the entire last year. This indicates the transition from the initial phase of the introduction of innovative technology to the stage of active adoption by the general public – the 'innovators' were joined by 'early adopters'," Malykh added.

Malykh noted that it usually takes 3-4 years to complete the development cycle of such services, but the technology was launched in the summer of 2023.

An analysis of age groups shows that the main users of the service are people aged 25 to 44 (56 per cent). This is followed by customers aged 45 to 64 (31 per cent).

The age categories 22-24 years old and over 65 years old make up 5 per cent of the total number of users.

Only 3 per cent of citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 resort to paying using biometrics, the report said.

--IANS

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