Yesterday Sberbank, Russia’s national savings bank, and MasterCard announced that they have made available Apple Pay to their clients in Russia. A number of other Russian players are expected to follow.
With this expansion, Apple Pay is now available in 10 countries since launching in 2014, including the US, UK, China, Australia, and Canada, notes The Verge.
“Many of Sberbank clients actively use new technologies, and an increasing number of them will prefer cash-free and contactless payment using their smartphones,” commented Alexander Torbakhov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank.
Apple Pay’s move somes just days after the launch Samsung Pay in Russia. Introduced a year ago, this competing contactless payment technology has been so far available only in the USA and Korea.
To develop the service in Russia, Samsung has partnered with such banks as Alfa Bank, VTB24, Raiffeisen, Russian Standard Bank, as well as MTS, a major telecom operator, and Yandex, the local search giant. By the end of the year, the company intends to attract twice as many partners.
Samsung Pay supports Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) payments, which makes it accepted almost anywhere. But the service is available in Russia only to MasterCard holders, in contrast with other countries.
Some experts believe that the development of Samsung Pay in Russia will be hampered by the limited number of payment terminals, which can be found in supermarkets rather than in smaller shops. The fact that the service is supported by a small number of devices may also prevent it from being widely used.
Sources: Samsung (1, 2), Sberbank, RBC.
