Cashless Payment in Emerging Markets: The Case of Russia

Abstract

Cashless payment has rapidly developed in emerging markets following the digitization of finance. In this paper, by calculating the ratio of cashless payment in Russia, we find that it takes the shape of J-curve exponential growth, unlike in other developed and emerging economies. Although debit cards significantly dominate other types of cashless payment, the development of e-money is also significant. Internal and external factors both account for the J-curve exponential growth in cashless payment, and the external factors have a larger impact. We distinguish the peculiar features in the promotion of cashless payment that are peculiar to Russia and highlight the fact that Russia's national payment system was formed to address rising national security and geopolitical risks. Cashless payment is centralized and administered by the Bank of Russia, in order to digitize the financial sector and the government, with the goal of driving the digital economy.