Pay in Russia: How to Open a Virtual Russian Card from Home

Since 2022, Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Russia simply don’t work inside the country. Not at an ATM, not in a restaurant, not to buy a train ticket online. If you’re planning a trip to Russia, this is probably what worries you most: how am I going to pay once I’m there?

Pay in Russia is one of the most convenient solutions that has appeared so far. It’s a virtual prepaid Russian card, designed for foreign tourists, that you can open from home in a couple of minutes and without setting foot in Russia. In this guide I explain exactly what it is, how to open it step by step with real screenshots, what topping it up really costs and how to use it during your trip.

Opening the card is free and takes about 2 minutes, straight from your browser. You don’t need to install anything yet, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re on a computer or on your phone. To get it done in one go, have these ready:

• Your phone number with the country code (+44…, +1…).
• Your first name and surname exactly as they appear on your passport.
• An email address.
• A password of 8 to 24 characters, with an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter and a number.

Open your virtual Russian card for free

Or scan the QR code to open it directly from your phone:

A login screen opens in English: press Sign up, the button on the right, and fill in your details

Next it will ask you to create a password, and from there you can request a free Russian virtual card.

What is Pay in Russia?

Pay in Russia is a virtual prepaid card on the Russian domestic payment system, the only one that works normally inside the country. It’s issued by Promselkhozbank, a Russian bank regulated and licensed by the Central Bank of Russia.

Registration and card creation both happen in the browser, whether you’re on a computer or on your phone. You install the app afterwards, on your phone, and that’s what you’ll use to pay during the trip. The key point for a tourist: you don’t need a Russian bank account, you don’t need to travel to Russia, and you don’t need a Russian SIM to start using it.

The two versions: unverified and verified

There are two card levels. The unverified one opens instantly and asks for no documents at all; it’s the most convenient for a short trip. The verified one (passport scan plus selfie) raises the limits enormously and adds fraud protection, but for now it’s only available to certain nationalities.

Which passports can apply for the verified card?

Verification is done by scanning your passport, and the bank is switching it on nationality by nationality, gradually. At the time of writing you can verify yourself if your passport is German, Italian, Latvian, Estonian, Mexican or Colombian.

If your passport isn’t on that list — and that’s the case for British, American, Canadian, Australian and Irish passports for now — you can still open the unverified card, which works exactly the same for paying: only the limits change. The bank plans to add Spain within the next few weeks and other countries such as the USA, the UK or Australia later on, although no firm dates have been announced.

Two practical notes: what counts is the nationality of the passport, not where you live, so if you hold dual nationality scan the one that’s on the list. And you won’t know whether yours works until you reach the scanning step, which comes after registration; if it doesn’t work, your account has already been created and you can carry on with the unverified card.

How to open the Pay in Russia card step by step

The order matters, and it isn’t the one you’d expect: first you register and create the card in your browser; the app comes afterwards.

1. Register (from your computer or your phone)

When you land on the site you’ll see a login screen in English. You have to press «Sign up» first, not «Log in».

Then you fill in the following details: phone (with the country code), first name, surname and email, and you create your password. Within seconds you’ll see the registration confirmation message.

2. Create your card

The first time you log in you get to choose between two cards

• I’d recommend opening the card that requires no ID first. It’s generated in a few minutes and asks for no documents; it’s the most convenient for a short trip, but it has a maximum balance of 15,000 roubles at any one time and a total of 40,000 roubles per month.
• The verified one (passport scan plus selfie) raises the limits a lot (up to 600,000 roubles) and adds fraud protection, but for now it’s only available to certain nationalities. If you open it while you’re already in Russia, it will also ask you to scan the migration card they hand you when you enter the country.

In your profile you can check your personal details and, if your passport is one of the accepted ones, start the verification process to raise your limits.

3. Install the app on your phone

⚠️ VERY IMPORTANT. Before you go any further: only install the app if you’ve already registered (Sign up button) as explained above. Registration happens in the browser, as described in section 1, and only once you’re signed up should you install the application.

Now it really is time to install it, and it isn’t optional if you’re going to use the card: the code that confirms every payment arrives as a notification inside the app, not by SMS. That’s precisely the big advantage (no Russian SIM needed), but it does mean that without the app installed and notifications switched on you won’t be able to confirm payments.

You log in with the email and password you’ve just created.

On iPhone (iOS)

There’s no app in the App Store: you add it to your home screen from Safari and it behaves like a normal app. VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS ON YOUR IPHONE:

1. Open Payinrussia in Safari (remember you need to register first by pressing the “Sign up” button).
2. Tap the Share button (the little square with the upward arrow).
3. Choose «Add to Home Screen» and confirm with Add.
4. Open the icon, log in with your account and accept notifications when prompted.

These screenshots show the steps to follow:

This step isn’t cosmetic. In an ordinary Safari tab the iPhone won’t receive notifications; they only arrive if you’ve added the site to your home screen. Skip this and you’ll be left unable to confirm your payments.

On Android

⚠️ VERY IMPORTANT: first register and create your Russian card (“Sign up” button – Step 1), and only then install the APK. Signing up happens in the browser, not inside the app.

Once you’ve registered, install the application. Since the app isn’t on Google Play either, you have to install the APK file. Follow these steps:

1. On your Android phone, tap the app download button. A file called Payrus-latest.apk will download. It’s around 130 MB, so ideally do it over wifi.

2. Your browser will warn you that «this type of file can harm your device». Tap Download anyway: it’s the notice Android always shows for any app that doesn’t come from Google Play.

3. Open the downloaded file. Android will ask for permission to «install apps from this source»: switch it on and confirm the installation.

4. Open the app, log in with the email and password you created when registering and accept notifications when prompted. Without them you won’t be able to confirm payments.

One advantage over the iPhone: the Android app also lets you pay contactless by holding your phone to the card terminal, not just by QR.

How to top up the card (and what it really costs)

The card itself is free. The cost is baked into the exchange rate they apply when you top up. To add money, tap «Add money», choose the method and the amount. You can top up as many times as you like within your limit, and even before you travel so you can book things online (museum tickets, opera, online shops, and so on).

The easy option: card or Apple Pay / Google Pay

This is the simplest route: you top up with your usual card (or with Apple Pay / Google Pay) and the balance shows up in roubles on your Pay in Russia card. No complications. The only catch is that the rate they apply carries a mark-up: in practice you get around 10% fewer roubles than if you top up with crypto (I break that down in the next section).

The cheaper option: with USDT (crypto)

If you’re comfortable with cryptocurrencies, topping up with USDT works out clearly better value, because the conversion runs at practically the real rate, without the card mark-up. So you can see it in numbers, these are the rates showing in the app at the same moment when I first tried it (they change daily, so treat them as a reference):

In the app you choose «crypto», select USDT, then the network, and the app gives you an address (or a QR code) to send the USDT to. As soon as it arrives, it’s converted into roubles on your card.

Where do you get USDT? The easiest way is to buy it on an exchange such as Bybit with a bank transfer (SEPA if you’re in Europe) — the fee is minimal; buying with a credit card works out more expensive. Then you withdraw it to the address the app gives you. A couple of warnings so you don’t lose money:

• Always use the TRC20 (Tron) network: the sending fee is around $1. Avoid the ERC20 (Ethereum) network, which charges several dollars.
• The network has to match on both sides. If you withdraw via TRC20, choose USDT TRC20 in Pay in Russia too. Sending on one network and selecting another means losing your funds.
• It’s worth it from around $120–170 per top-up. For small amounts the network fee eats up the saving and it isn’t worth the trouble.

If you’d rather not get involved with crypto, that’s fine: top up with your card and go enjoy the trip. The USDT route is for people who already move around in cryptocurrencies and want to squeeze out the extra saving. (Chinese citizens, incidentally, can top up directly in yuan with UnionPay, WeChat or Alipay.)

How to pay in Russia with the card

Once you have a balance, paying is very simple. There are two ways:

• By QR (the most common method in Russia): in the app you tap «Pay», scan the shop’s QR code (this is the Fast Payment System, SBP), confirm the amount and pay.
• Online, with the card details: you enter the number and the CVC and confirm the transaction. Useful for booking trains, tickets and so on.

The big advantage: the confirmation for every payment reaches you as a notification inside the app, not by SMS. That means you don’t need a Russian SIM or roaming: with the app installed and an internet connection (data or wifi) you’re set. It works in restaurants, taxis, the metro, museums, shops, hotels that accept it, and even for buying tickets on the Russian Railways (RZD) website, although for that last one you’ll need a VPN.

One detail to bear in mind: camera permission

The first time you go to pay by QR, the app will ask for permission to use the camera. Grant the permission and you won’t have any problems. The mess starts if you tap «Don’t allow» by mistake: when you try again, the app shows a notice asking you to enable the camera, but it no longer lets you do it from there.

How you fix it depends on how you installed the app:

• iPhone: the app runs inside Safari, so the permission is managed in Settings → Safari → Camera, where you set it to «Allow». If it still doesn’t work, go to Settings → Safari → Advanced → Website Data, find payinrussia and delete it (that clears the saved «no»). Then reopen the app and grant the permission when prompted.
• Android, if you installed the APK: this is the more straightforward one. Go to Settings → Apps, find the app, open Permissions and enable the camera.

Where it works and where it doesn’t

To save you any surprises, it’s worth being clear about what you can and can’t do with this card:

• ✅ Paying in shops and businesses in Russia by QR and with the card details, online and in person. Examples: buying tickets to Russian museums (the Kremlin, the Hermitage, etc.), booking hotels in Russia, tickets for the Bolshoi opera, theatre, the circus, shopping on Ozon, paying in restaurants, and so on.
• ❌ It does not allow cash withdrawals or cash deposits.
• ❌ It does not work outside Russia or with non-Russian merchants.
• ❌ It does not allow transfers to other people or accounts.
• ⚠️ Some hotels, car rental companies and marketplaces may not accept prepaid cards. Have a plan B for those cases.

Pay in Russia compared with the other options

It isn’t the only way to pay in Russia. If you want the full picture, there’s a general guide on how to pay in Russia with cash and cards. Here’s a summary of the most common alternatives:

The T-Bank card is a full Russian bank account and card, but you have to activate it in Russia. That’s exactly where Pay in Russia wins: you have it ready from home. Plenty of people combine the two: T-Bank for something more permanent, and Pay in Russia to sort out the payments during the trip without any hassle.

Expiry date and leftover balance

The card has an expiry date (in MM/YYYY format, visible on the card itself inside the app). If you have money left when it expires, the balance stays available for 30 days from the first day of the following month; after that, it’s lost. The recommendation is simple: top up roughly what you plan to spend and, if a little is left over, spend it before it expires.

Bear in mind that the unverified prepaid card lasts little more than 1 month. For example, I opened mine on 15 June and it expired on 31 July. The verified card, on the other hand, lasts 1 year. When they expire, you can open a new one without any problem.

For that very reason, if your trip is still a long way off, don’t worry: create the account now (it’s free and doesn’t expire) and you can create the card and top it up when the date gets closer.

Before you open it, keep this in mind

• Topping up by card carries a mark-up of around 10% on the exchange rate (with USDT it’s considerably cheaper).
• The funds on the card aren’t covered by a deposit guarantee scheme. That’s why it’s sensible to top up only what you’re going to use, rather than treating it as a savings account.
• You need the app installed and notifications switched on in order to confirm payments.
• It’s a card for spending inside Russia during your trip, not a service for sending money or withdrawing cash.

In short

If you’re travelling to Russia and you don’t know how you’re going to pay, Pay in Russia is about the most practical thing out there right now: first you register for free in a couple of minutes from your browser, then you install the app on your phone and top it up however you prefer (card is the easy way; USDT is the cheap way) and you pay by QR without needing a Russian SIM. My advice: get it created well in advance and top it up as your trip approaches.

Open your free prepaid Russian card in 2 minutes
From your browser, with nothing to install. Remember to press «Sign up».

Go to Pay in Russia

Or scan the QR code to open it directly from your phone:

Frequently asked questions about Pay in Russia