Payment methods in Russia

The dominant card scheme in Macau due to the large volume of mainland Chinese visitors and gamblers. UnionPay cards are accepted at casinos, hotels, and most merchants. As of November 2024, foreign-issued UnionPay cards can link directly with Alipay and WeChat Pay for added convenience.

Russia's national card payment system established by the Central Bank of Russia and operated by NSPK (National System of Payment Cards). By end-2024, over 400 million MIR cards had been issued, accounting for 66.7% of all domestic transactions. The US Treasury sanctioned NSPK in February 2024, which does not affect domestic usage but creates problems with MIR acceptance abroad.

Visa is the world's largest card network, enabling credit, debit and prepaid card payments online, in-store and at ATMs across virtually every market. In the listed countries Visa is a core internationally accepted scheme alongside local methods.

Mastercard is a leading global card network supporting credit, debit and prepaid card payments online, in-store and at ATMs worldwide. In the listed countries it is a core internationally accepted scheme.

QIWI was a major Russian electronic wallet and payment-terminal network. The Bank of Russia revoked Qiwi Bank's licence on 21 February 2024 for high-risk/AML violations, and the bank was liquidated in 2025. The QIWI Wallet service is no longer operational in Russia.

One of Russia's most popular e-wallets, operated by Sber. Enables online purchases, bill payments, and peer-to-peer transfers. Widely integrated into Russian e-commerce platforms.

One of the largest buy-now-pay-later services in Eastern Europe, offering interest-free installment payments online and in stores. Operator: Revo Technologies / Mokka. Est. users: 12-16M registered users (2025).

Russia's first digital buy-now-pay-later service, splitting purchases into four interest-free bi-weekly installments. Operator: T-Bank (formerly Tinkoff). Est. users: Top-2 BNPL app in Russia; several million users (2024).

Alfa-Bank's buy-now-pay-later service splitting purchases into interest-free installments at partner online and offline stores. Est. users: Key BNPL platform in ~300bn RUB market; millions of users (2024).

Sberbank's pay-by-app service that lets customers pay online and in stores without entering card details. Operator: Sberbank (PJSC Sberbank). Est. users: 3.5M+ online users (2021, far higher by 2024).

Bank of Russia's instant interbank payment system letting consumers pay merchants online and in-store via QR code or phone number. Operator: National Payment Card System (NSPK) operated by Bank of Russia. Est. users: 2.2M+ retail outlets accepting; tens of millions of users (2024).

T-Bank's instant pay service allowing fast online and QR payments without entering card details, open to customers of all Russian banks. Operator: T-Bank (formerly Tinkoff Bank). Est. users: Available to all Russian bank customers; millions of users (2024).

Yandex's e-commerce checkout service that stores card details for one-click payments on Russian websites and apps. Operator: Yandex (operated via Yandex Bank / Tinkoff Kassa). Est. users: Millions of users; part of ~98% in-app payment coverage in RU (2024).

Sovcombank's installment card allowing interest-free purchases paid over time at partner merchants online and offline. Operator: Sovcombank (PJSC Sovcombank). Est. users: 8M+ cardholders (2024).

Russia's two largest e-commerce marketplaces (Wildberries and Ozon) handle enormous volumes of digital payments through their own integrated checkout systems, supporting MIR cards, SBP, and wallets.

Following the December 2024 launch of a cross-border QR system between Laos and China, UnionPay mobile app users can make QR payments across participating LAPNet merchants. This is significant given the large volume of Chinese tourism and trade with Laos.