Published on: 2026-09-30
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
One million Muscovites have joined the biometric fare payment system. This is the most modern and convenient way to pay for travel on city transport. You only need to look into the camera at the turnstile, and the gates open in a second. More than 1.2 million entries are made weekly using biometrics in transport.
“Moscow is the world leader in the number of types of transport where biometric fare payment is available. This is a completely Russian development owned by the Government of Moscow. Passengers have already made more than 230 million biometric entries in urban transport. You can connect to the service in just one minute through the mobile application “Moscow Metro.” By the end of 2026, following the instructions of Sergey Sobyanin, we will introduce
payment by biometrics at stations with third-generation turnstiles Moscow Central Diameter – noted the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport and Industry Maxim Liksutov.
Registration in the biometric system
To register in the biometric system, you need to go to the “Cabinet” section of the mobile application “Moscow Metro” and authenticate via the code sent by SMS or another service. In the personal account, in the “Services” section, you need to select “Biometric Payment System”, then click “Add” under the “Biometrics” item. After that, you should authenticate via Mos ID (the mos.ru portal account) or fill in the data manually.
Next, you need to take a photo of your face. The photo must meet several requirements: even lighting without shadows on the face, no accessories or hairstyle covering the face, and a direct look into the camera. Then, in the personal account, go to the “Payment methods” section and link a bank card or a Muscovite card for fare payment. The service will become available within a few hours.
During registration, the neural network converts the user’s photo into an anonymized set of characters. It cannot be decrypted back into an image. At the moment of passing through the turnstile, the special “Liveness” technology distinguishes a living person from a photo or video. It analyzes the passenger’s facial expressions and movements. Therefore, the system is completely safe.
The servers are located in Russia. The system has bank-level security, and all data is securely encrypted.
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Convenient and fast
Biometric payment was launched in Moscow in October 2021 at all metro stations simultaneously. To this day, nowhere in the world does fare payment by facial recognition operate on the scale seen in the Russian capital.
Since December 2025, the biometric fare payment service has been available on all metro turnstiles without exception and Moscow Central Circle. He also works on Aeroexpress trains, at the regular river electric transport piers, and at the stations of the Moscow Central Diameters.
Biometrics are currently operational at the turnstile stations of MCD-1, MCD-2, and MCD-4. By the end of the year, biometric payment will also be available on MCD-3. On the MCD, the payment system using facial recognition works the same way as on other types of transport. If the passenger is already registered in the “Moscow Metro” app, re-registration is not required.
New users, after a one-time registration in the service, only need to look into the camera on the turnstile. At stations without turnstiles, to start or end a trip on the MCC, you need to tap the same bank card linked to the service on the validator.
Biometrics is the most convenient and fastest option for paying for public transportation. The user does not need to look for a plastic card, phone, or wallet. To pass through, you just need to approach the turnstile and look at the camera mounted on it. The fare will be automatically deducted from the passenger’s account.
Moreover, in September of this year, it became possible when issuing a Moscow resident card to immediately enable biometric authentication for preferential or free travel on the metro or MCC. For this, it is necessary to fill out statement To issue or reissue a card on the mos.ru portal, select biometric connection and register it in the “My id” app, following the instructions. For those who have a valid card, the service is still available when self-registering at “Moscow Metro” and linking the card in the personal account. At the same time, the Moscow plastic card must be taken with you to confirm the right to discounted travel during inspections in transport.
Find out how the capital has changed over the past years, what initiatives aimed at making life more comfortable for city residents are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its inhabitants in the near future in the large-scale special project on portal mos.ru, dedicated to the development of key sectors of Moscow. Among them are transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and the construction sector.
Project “Transport” It will be of interest to everyone who wants to learn about the main stages of development in this field, support for electric transport, and the development of the route network.
In recent years, Moscow’s urban transport has become more comfortable and environmentally friendly, travel time for city trips has significantly decreased, and infrastructure for private electric vehicles has appeared.
Get the latest news quickly through the official channels of the city of Moscow in messengers “Max” and “Telegram”.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.