Apple Pay now available in Russia

Apple Pay has arrived in one of the world’s largest markets, Russia.

The feature is currently available only for Mastercard cardholders, and only at one bank: Sberbank.

“Many of Sberbank clients actively use new technologies, and an increasing number of them will prefer cash-free and contactless payment using their smartphones,” said Alexander Torbakhov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, in an emailed statement.

Sberbank customers can set up Apple Pay via the bank’s Sberbank Online mobile app. Further information on how to set up Apple Pay for Sberbank customers can be found here.

Originally launched in 2014, Apple Pay was previously available in nine countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the U.S.

The service enables iPhone users to pay bills at physical stores simply by tapping their phone at a payment terminal. Recently, Apple Pay has been introduced into the latest version of macOS, Sierra; to pay via the service, users need to own an iPhone and confirm the payment by scanning their finger on the phone’s fingerprint reader.