Mobile payments increased to 25 percent of all bank card transactions by customers of Russia's MTS Bank in October and November. Mobile also grew to 23 percent of the value of the transactions. The shares are up from respectively 21 and 18 percent respectively in 2019.
On average customers made 25 mobile payments per month versus 16 with the plastic card, compared to 23 and 16, respectively a year ago.
Penetration of NFC smartphones was a driver of the growth. According to data from the MTS retail chain, 61 percent of all smartphones sold in January-November of this year had NFC, up from 51 percent in the year-earlier period.
Apple Pay was the most popular payment service among customers of MTS Bank in October-November, with 39 percent of transactions made using this system. Google Pay followed with 35 percent, and Samsung Pay accounted for 23 percent.
Apple Pay's share amounted to 49 percent in October-November 2019, Google Pay followed with 31 percent then, and Samsung Pay was at 20 percent. The share of Apple Pay totaled 53 percent in October-November 2018.
The decline in the use of Apple Pay has been caused by a drop in iPhone sales in the country. Apple totaled 10 percent of all smartphones sold in the country in January-October of this year, behind Samsung, Honor and Xiaomi.
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