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Sber and NSPK to create a single biometric payment service
The launch of cross-bioacquiring of Sberbank and the National Payment Card System (NSPK) is scheduled for the second half of 2025. NSPK noted that the organizations are already working on merging biometric payment services, and Sber is to be connected to the NSPK bioacquiring system later this year.
“The project roadmap has been already in place, and the launch is planned for the second half of the year. We are developing a biometric payment standard that will allow other market participants to launch their own biometric services,” explained Sber SVP Dmitry Malykh.
To pay by face, biometric data must be registered in the Unified Biometric System (UBS) through Gosusligi (Public Services) Biometrics application or at bank branches. After that, the data will be linked to the Sber or NSPK system, and any bank card can be linked to this account — funds will be debited from this card. However, there are some limitations. In particular, only Sber and NSPK applications are currently available. In the future, after the launch of the unified system, clients will be able to use mobile applications of any banks connected to the system.
Secondly, the systems operate on different infrastructures, that is, users of the NSPK application cannot make payments through Sber terminal network – the one that includes the largest number of face-pay enabled devices as compared to other banks. By 2026, Sber will re-equip 2 million of its terminals to empower every second device on the market with the biometric payment functionality. The launch of the unified bioacquiring system will pool the efforts of all market players in order to develop the infrastructure of a new type of payment. Other stakeholders will also join the process: almost all new VTB equipment will support biometric payments, and Alfa-Bank will soon replace 25% of its devices with modern models, representatives of both organizations said.
The Bank of Russia supports the initiative, the regulator's press service clarified to emphasize that the service will be built on the principle of equidistance from all players and is open to interaction with them. “Our task is to build an interbank platform of biometric services. This means that clients of any financial institutions will be able to pay for their purchases using biometrics, regardless of merchant’s bioacquirer,” says Maxim Krukelis, Head of the Operations and Technology at NSPK.
Based on the IZVESTIA publication