Major outage hits Russian banking apps, metro payments across regions

A major outage disrupted banking apps and payment systems across Russia last week, preventing customers in several regions, including Moscow, from paying by card, withdrawing cash or accessing mobile banking services for several hours.

The disruption on Friday affected apps from some of the country’s largest banks, including Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, T-Bank and Gazprombank.

Local media reported the outage also caused problems for ATMs and public transport systems. Turnstiles in the Moscow metro and suburban trains reportedly stopped accepting bank cards, forcing metro staff to allow passengers through for free to prevent crowding.

The exact cause of the outage remains unclear, but several Russian media outlets, including Forbes Russia, initially suggested it could be linked to government attempts to block internet resources, specifically the blocking of IP addresses used in banking infrastructure.

By Monday, however, most of those reports had disappeared from many websites. Independent Russian media outlets said the country’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, demanded that publications remove materials linking the banking disruption to its blocking efforts.

Natalia Kasperskaya, co-founder of cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, wrote on Telegram on Saturday that she believed the issues were caused by Roskomnadzor’s attempts to block VPN services.

“This is not an enemy raid or an attack by external actors or malicious foreign hackers,” she wrote. “This is our very own Roskomnadzor finally getting serious about fighting traffic tunneling and protection services, also known as VPNs.”

Russian authorities did not publicly explain the outage, but officials reportedly told Kasperskaya that the disruption was caused by an internal failure at Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender.

Sberbank earlier confirmed the outage but did not disclose the cause. Experts cited by Kommersant suggested problems at Sberbank could have affected other banks because it is the country’s largest acquiring bank, meaning it processes card payments for many retail outlets.

The incident comes as Russia tightens control over its digital infrastructure amid the war in Ukraine.

Authorities have repeatedly restricted mobile internet access in Moscow and other major cities, saying the measures are designed to protect against Ukrainian drone attacks.

Officials are also considering introducing a system that would limit internet access during such disruptions to a government-approved list of websites. Under the proposed “whitelist” system, only selected Russian platforms — including social media services, marketplaces, taxi and delivery apps, telecom services and government portals — would remain accessible.

The measures are part of a broader tightening of digital controls in Russia. Authorities have already restricted voice calls over messaging platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, citing fraud concerns, and have signaled that further limits, including potential bans, could follow.