Russia will launch a unified facial payment system, which is planned to go live in the second half of the year.

In a recent TechFlow announcement, on January 23, according to Bitcoin.com, Russia's largest bank Sber and the Mir payment system operator NSPK will join forces to launch a unified facial Payment Network, planned to be officially launched in the second half of 2025. Dmitry Malykh, Senior Vice President of Sber, revealed that the system will establish national biometric standards, enabling interbank interoperability.

Sber plans to deploy the technology on 2 million terminals, covering 50% of Russia's bank terminals. Users can register biometric data through any bank app and make payments or transfers at all supported terminals. The system will also support age verification for shopping and automatic hotel registration, among other new scenarios.

Previously, Sber and NSPK operated their own facial payment systems independently, with issues such as cumbersome user registration and non-interoperability of Payment Network. The new system will achieve comprehensive integration. The Central Bank of Russia expressed its support for this, believing that biometric payments will become a future trend.