Contactless payments in Russia: a Yandex.Checkout study

The number of contactless payments made from smartphones has increased by a quarter over the year, with the turnover growth of 26% and an average order value of about $7. Yandex.Checkout analysts have compared payments made with the company’s cards via smartphones in the last five months and within the corresponding period last year. To date, Yandex.Money has issued over 2M physical cards and over 19M virtual cards.

Contactless systems

The number of transactions made with Yandex.Money cards via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay has increased by a quarter in comparison with the previous year. The turnover has demonstrated almost the same growth. Users can pay contactless via smartphone or in-app: the number of such transactions has increased by 46%, the turnover by 50%.

From cards to smartphones

Smartphones keep outweighing physical cards within the segment of contactless payments. The percentage of transactions made via phones has grown up to 45% of the total number of contactless transactions in Yandex.Money. Moscow and Kazan are the leading cities among those welcoming such payments, with 54% and 53% respectively.

In total, the turnover for these payments in Russia has increased by 26%, the number of transactions by 28%. However, an average transaction remains on the same level, around $7. 32% of contactless payments are conducted with Yandex.Money virtual cards, which is 10% larger than in the previous year. The turnover for virtual cards has increased by 59%.

Where and how much to pay

The majority of contactless payments (92%) stand for low-priced purchases (under $15). Transactions over $70 account for less than 1% of the total number. Most often contactless payments are used in grocery stores, in cafes, and for public transportation. Worth noting that the largest transactions stand around $3,5K. Purchases like that were conducted at a BMW dealership in Kazan and at other auto shops throughout the country.