Megafon will install bioterminals for activation of SIM cards by foreigners in franchised salons

Megafon has expanded its program to equip the retail network with identity verification systems through the Unified Biometric System (UBS). The company has now started the second stage of installing bioterminals in partner showrooms — in January, the equipment will appear in more than 800 franchised locations.

Bioterminals are necessary to activate SIM cards that are purchased by foreign citizens, the company recalled. The program for their installation was launched in June 2025. In six months, we managed to provide them to all our own retail outlets located in locations with high traffic of foreign citizens, the company stressed. As a result, more than a thousand of our own salons in different regions of the country have been equipped with terminals. Megafon became the first operator in the telecom market to implement such technologies in retail.

The equipping of partner points of sale started with a salon in Moscow. The task of the second stage is to expand the presence of complexes in each region.

To conclude a contract for communication services, a foreign citizen or a stateless person must obtain an SNILS, create a verified account on the Gosuslugi portal and register biometrics at a bank branch. The operator is obliged to verify the client through the system — the SIM card is activated only after checking all the data. Until December 31, with the permission of the Ministry of Finance, the verification of biometrics of foreign citizens is possible according to a temporary scheme on the Gosuslugi portal.

"We are fully prepared to switch to a targeted solution in strict accordance with current legislation. The process of SIM card activation is significantly simplified for our foreign clients. Now no additional actions are required from the buyer, just look into the bioterminal when activating the SIM card," said Igor Glebov, director of the Megafon Development Department. According to him, the process of concluding a contract with a bioterminal takes a little more than five minutes, and according to the time scheme — up to half an hour. There are also no problems with the language barrier.

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