Travel tips
Paying by QR code in Russia: how it works
Most payments in Russian shops, cafés and taxis go through a QR code. Here is the two-minute version of how it works with PayInRussia.
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Walk into a supermarket, a café or a museum in Russia and you will see a small QR code at the till, on the receipt or on a sticker by the register. That code is how a large share of the country pays — through the Russian payment network, which moves money between banks in seconds.
Global payment methods do not work in Russia, but the QR code does not care where you are from. It only needs an app that can read it and an account in rubles to pay from. That is what PayInRussia gives you.
What happens when you scan
The whole thing takes about ten seconds:
- The cashier shows the QR code, or you find it on the receipt
- You open PayInRussia and tap Pay, which opens the scanner
- You point the camera at the code — the amount and the shop appear on screen
- You confirm, and the cashier sees the payment go through on their side
In taxis ordered through an app you do not scan at all: PayInRussia linked in the app is charged automatically. And if a payment fails, it is almost always the connection: check your signal and your balance and try again.
Our questions and answers cover the details, place by place — metro, trains, hotels, restaurants, museums.