Overview

• NSPK unveiled customer‑presented QR for retail payments and a QR option for person‑to‑person transfers on SBP rails, with single‑use codes, expirations and optional limits under pilots running through April 1, 2026 with VTB, Tochka and Gazprombank.
• VTB is testing smart‑contract payments in digital rubles for smart parking in Saint Petersburg, where entry and exit events automatically trigger billing and settlement.
• VTB announced a pilot for contactless payments on iPhone via VTB Pay using NSPK’s Volna technology, enabling tap‑to‑pay at terminals that support the capability after activation in the bank’s app.
• Banks expanded biometric pilots, with VTB demonstrating palm vein payments using data stored in the Unified Biometric System and its commercial platform, and Sber showing a palm‑based terminal it aims to begin launching in 2026.
• MTS Bank demonstrated digital‑ruble payments at self‑checkout and said it expects to pilot the feature in 2026 when mass availability begins.