Tinkoff and Sberbank Launch P2P Money Transfers Using Just a Mobile Number

Tinkoff Bank has launched a joint initiative with Sberbank to allow their customers to make P2P money transfers using a mobile number, as part of the bank’s drive to expand the payment options available to its customers.

The service will be rolled out from today in the bank’s mobile apps and the personal online accounts of Moscow-based customers, and will be available to all customers across Russia by the end of July.

Tinkoff pioneered the use of just mobile numbers for transfers among its own customers, and today this is one of the bank’s most popular payment methods. The initiative with Sberbank expands the potential audience for the service to millions of new users.

“Tinkoff was one of the first in the Russian market to offer this option within our own banking system. Now, alongside our partner Sberbank, we are scaling this service and taking it to the next level,” said Anatoly Makeshin, Director of Payment Systems and Deputy Chairman of Tinkoff Bank. “New features not only improve the user experience for our customers, but also further advance the development of the country’s payment infrastructure.”

Tinkoff Bank is also actively involved in the development of a rapid payment system (SBP), which will allow customers to make instant transfers using other identifiers (such as email address, TIN, SNILS, social network accounts, etc) anywhere and at any time, regardless of the beneficiary bank.