Putin joked about the service "Payment with a smile" from Sberbank

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed interest in the biometric payment feature developed by Sberbank. It was presented by German Gref, Chairman of the bank's Management Board, during a meeting in the Kremlin on July 29.

Gref explained that the Smile Payment service was launched in 2022 after Apple left Russia and Apple Pay was blocked. According to the head of the Savings Bank, the bank made a face recognition system "with the help of mathematics" and solved the problem with biometrics.

"You have to pay with money, but by presenting yourself, right? It's good," the president said.

Gref also spoke about the results of the implementation of biometric payment and the bank's plans by the end of the year.

"In a year and a half, we <...> have installed 1,200,000 terminals almost throughout the country. We should have one and a half million terminals by the end of this year. Among other things, we have started installing terminals in major cities at the entrance to transport, in the subway. You can pay by person everywhere," the head of the Savings Bank added.

Personal accounting: 20 million Russians will get access to biometric services

When will citizens be able to pay with their "face" and buy alcohol without a passport?

Earlier, on July 10, the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko informed Izvestia about the expansion of access to biometric services for citizens. According to a source close to the government, Izvestia, another 20 million people will have access to a wide range of biometric services, in addition to those already registered in the system.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.