Cards remain the most popular payment method in Russia, Mediascope study finds

As the study shows, while in general the percentage of users periodically paying online has not changed much, the number of those who pay online for taxis, hotel reservations, and the purchase of transport tickets has increased, and the number of users who make P2P transfers and pay for online games has become slightly decreased.

The key findings of the study:

• bank cards remain the most popular means of online payment (90.5% of Russians used them in 2018, 89.7% paid via online banking, and 77.6% paid with e-wallets);

• the most active payment audience online are users between 25 and 34 years (82.2% of respondents in this age group used e-wallets, 93.9% used internet banking;

• the largest share of bank card users comes from the older group of 35 to 44 years old (94.4%);

• contactless payments are most popular with an audience of 25 to 34 year olds (57.3%) (on average, 44.8% of Russians used them in 2018 against 38.3% in 2017);

• Google Pay is the leader among contactless systems, with the number of users growing from 19.6% to 22.9% over the year (18.9% of respondents paid via Apple Pay, 15.5% via Samsung Pay, 2% with Garmin Pay);

• most users already have experience with online payments for mobile communications (85.8%), purchases in online stores (81%), and housing and communal services (74%);

• the share of users paying online for taxis is growing (it grew from 45.4% in 2018 to 50.8% in 2019);

• young people are more likely to pay for taxis (64% of respondents aged 18 to 24 years old and almost 63% in the 25 to 34 years old age group).

The Mediascope study was conducted in April-May 2018 and June-July 2019. Russians aged 12-55 years old took part in an online survey from cities with a population of 700 thousand people (in six federal districts) and cities of the Far Eastern district with a population of 600 thousand people.