Why in the first quarter the volume of translations through SBP decreased
Operations of citizens through the system of quick payments (SBP) in the first quarter of 2025 reduced the volume for the first time in the history of observations. The decrease could be due to changes in the policy of banks that have been curtailed for cashbacks from the end of last year. However, in general, experts indicate, the SBP service ended with the initial rapid growth period, further development will take an analogy with card payments, the volumes of which are historically reduced in the first quarter.
According to the Bank of Russia, in the first quarter of 2025, the first time a decrease in the volume of citizens’ operations through a system of fast payments was reduced by 1.3 trillion rubles. per quarter, up to 22.6 trillion rubles. At the same time, both transfer of citizens (from 21.5 trillion to 20.2 trillion rubles), and payment through SBP (from 2.01 trillion to 1.95 trillion rubles) decreased. At the same time, the Central Bank notes that about 40% of the transfer of citizens falls on transfers between their accounts in different banks, which have become available without a commission of up to 30 million rubles. per month in May last year.
Experts believe that a decrease in the volume of translations through SBP indicates that they have entered the plateau and will continue to develop depending on the state of the market. According to the MVA-Professor of the Digital Finance of the Presidential Academy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexei Voylukov, transfers on cards harmoniously grew over the years 5-10% per quarter, while the transactions in the SBP added 20-30% aleship. “A decrease in the volume of transfers in the first quarter compared to the last quarter of last year, on the one hand, the seasonal one – this is how the volume of transfers on cards behaved all the time, but on the other hand, this is an additional confirmation that transfers through the SBP have reached their ceiling,” he said.
Until recently, the rapid growth of transfers through the SBP, according to him, was ensured by the fact that, due to their simplicity and cheapness, other types of translations were cannibalized. “Now there will be no more such rapid growth in this segment, but we can expect that very harmonious growth of 5-10% in the quarter, which used to be on cards,” says Alexei Volukov. At the same time, according to him, transfers of citizens between their accounts in different banks are contributing to the dynamics of the indicator, which allows customers to catch the most interesting shares on cashbacks, on accumulative accounts, and so on, so that the share of these transfers will grow, which should also affect the growth of translations through SBP.
At the same time, experts note that trading transactions also affect the transfer of citizens through SBP. According to the head of the Board of the Association “Financial Innovations” of Roman Prokhorov, the dynamics of transfers between individuals through SBP is largely formed by the activity of operations on marketplaces, when customers transfer funds from their banking accounts to their electronic wallets on platforms to take advantage of discounts when paying. “As a result, the C2S SBP transmission segment actually becomes part of the C2V trade turnover and demonstrates similar dynamics,” he says. In addition, according to the chairman of the Commission on the Security of the Financial Market of the CCI of the Russian Federation Timur Aitov, a significant part of the translations through SBP is actually used for purchases of goods and services and in the same TSP, but without fiscal registration. Therefore, in his opinion, the possibilities for the progress of SBP in terms of translations are far from exhausted.
At the same time, a decrease in the volume of payment through SBP is associated with amendments in bank loyalty programs. “Payment for a QR code by definition is less convenient, and only obvious benefits could be made to use it, and in the middle of last year, banks gave good cashbacks for payment through the SBP, but by the end of the year these programs began to smoothly turn away,” said Alexei Volukov. This is also confirmed by the data of the Central Bank: cashback payments for payment for SBP began in the second quarter of last year (1.2 million pcs), reached the peak in the fourth quarter (46.6 million pcs), and in the first quarter of 2025 this indicator decreased to 6.6 million pcs. According to Alexei Voilukov, new shares can be returned to positive dynamics that banks cannot constantly be held, as they are forced to count money.
