- Russia plans to launch a comprehensive facial recognition payment network this year, led by Sberbank and the National Payment Card System (NSPK).
- The project includes installing approximately two million biometric payment terminals nationwide, starting with Moscow’s Metro system in 2024 and full national deployment by the second half of 2025.
- The initiative integrates with the Unified Biometric System (UBS), a state-run database for identification and authentication, raising privacy concerns.
- The system will support various payment methods and features such as age verification for restricted purchases and automated hotel check-ins, potentially making it adaptable to emerging financial technologies.
- The project raises significant privacy questions due to the integration of facial recognition technology into law enforcement operations, with fears about surveillance and potential misuse of biometric data.
In a move that could revolutionize payment systems and raise privacy concerns, Russia is set to launch this year a comprehensive facial recognition payment network. The project, spearheaded by Sberbank and the National Payment Card System (NSPK), aims to create one of the largest biometric payment networks in the world.
The initiative, which began with the implementation of Face Pay in Moscow’s subway system in 2021, will see approximately two million biometric payment terminals installed nationwide. The rollout started in Moscow’s Metro system in 2024, with full national deployment expected by the second half of 2025.
Dmitry Malykh, Senior Vice President at Sber, confirmed the timeline and outlined the project’s scope. “The project roadmap has already been established, and the network launch is slated for the second half of 2025,” he said. “We are developing a biometric payment standard, based on which other market participants will be able to launch their biometric services.”
This initiative will not only facilitate seamless payments but also integrate with the Unified Biometric System (UBS), a state-run database that centralizes biometric data for identification and authentication. Since 2022, state-owned banks have been required to transfer customer biometric information to the UBS, although adoption has been slow, with the database yet to surpass three million users.
Privacy concerns arise
Beyond basic payment functionality, the system will incorporate features such as age verification for restricted purchases and automated hotel check-ins. This expansion of biometric data usage has raised concerns about privacy and surveillance. […]
— Read More: www.naturalnews.com
