Payment outage disrupts shopping and travel in Moscow

A payment system outage caused widespread disruption in Moscow on Friday, affecting shoppers, public transport, and businesses across the city.

The issue temporarily forced metro turnstiles to open for free access, while shops and services asked customers to switch to cash payments, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Customers and retailers reported problems with card payments and QR code transactions, with disruptions linked to Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender.

For about an hour, many stores and petrol stations were unable to process digital payments, leading to delays and confusion.

The outage had an immediate impact on transport, with the Moscow metro allowing passengers to pass through turnstiles without payment during the disruption.

Other services were also affected, including facilities outside the capital. A zoo in the Belgorod region asked visitors to use cash after its payment systems stopped working.

Authorities did not immediately confirm the cause of the outage. Sberbank later said the issue had been resolved but did not provide further details.

Russia’s central bank has not yet commented on the incident.

The disruption highlights the heavy reliance on digital payments in major cities like Moscow, where millions of residents depend on cashless systems for daily transactions.

While the outage was relatively brief, it caused noticeable inconvenience across a metropolitan area of more than 20 million people.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada