Contactless payments in Russia: a short artefact from 2012 — a step to educate users to transact everywhere
A quick archive search for notes carefully collected and stored
It appeared as another cool method congruent with a mobile-totting and tweeting / instagraming personae: first via a form of contactless card payments promoted by the schemes, as they were pushing banks to rollover on EMV-contactless plastic.
Contactless cards promo served a major role: teaching cardholders to start doing menial small transactions (CVM — customer verification method below 1000 RUB with no PIN) — and creating a habit to pay for everything with a card.
Where originally users received credit cards as a transitory instrument from a POS loan — they treasured credit cards and only used them in emergency — or for a major purchase — and repaid duly.
Card issuers were not happy — willing to identify “revolvers” — so instilling a habit was necessary. Chip and PIN and contactless arrived just in time.
