Personal accounting: 20 million Russians will get access to biometric services
The authorities will make biometric services more accessible to 20 million Russians, Izvestia found out. This will become possible after the release of an order from the Ministry of Finance, which will allow the use of data previously collected by banks in the Unified Biometric System (EBS). Thanks to this, citizens will be able to access contactless payment for purchases and travel, age verification services, eSIM and fan card registration without re-registration. However, not everyone is ready to take advantage of the new opportunities, because some citizens are still afraid of leaks, fraudsters and increased control. How well—founded these fears are is described in the Izvestia article.
How to use biometrics
The authorities will expand access to biometric services for citizens, the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko told Izvestia. The government has agreed on an order from the Ministry of Finance that will allow the use of facial and voice casts previously collected by banks in a Single Biometric System (EBS). Thanks to this, about 20 million people will be able to use the new digital services without re-registering, a source close to the government said.
— As a result of the changes, about 20 million samples will be classified as standard biometrics. In other words, 20 million more people will have access to a wide range of biometric services, in addition to the people already registered in the system," the source told Izvestia.
The EBS stores biometric data of Russians — casts of their faces and voices. Submitting information there is voluntary: people can do this at any bank branch, as well as online through the Gosuslugi portal. With the help of confirmed biometrics, you can open a bank account or apply for a mortgage. To do this, you need to submit the data at the branches of credit institutions. Standard biometrics will be enough to pay for purchases. It can be registered remotely in the Biometrics State Services application.
So far, more than 6 million people have independently registered with the EBS, the Center for Biometric Technologies (CBT) clarified. Thus, as a result of the changes, biometric services will be available to 26 million Russians, which is almost one in five residents of the country.
The Ministry of Finance will amend the order with the rules for processing biometrics in the EBS, the press service of the department said. For example, the brightness and focus requirements of the photo will be adjusted. The innovations will allow citizens with imported biometrics of good quality to receive the same services and services used by those who have independently registered biometrics in the EBS in the application. The changes will not affect the security of biometrics processing and storage and the quality of services provided.
Two arrays of data are stored in the EBS, the CBT explained. The first is biometrics, which citizens themselves have directly submitted to the system. The second is the face and voice samples that banks and other market participants were legally required to transfer to the EBS before the beginning of 2024. This imported biometrics could only be used for the services of the company that originally assembled it.
— Technology companies have retained a kind of "monopoly" on previously collected biometrics. This naturally limits users' ability to connect biometric services. And they were able to solve this problem," the Izvestia source explained.
The order of the Ministry of Finance will remove restrictions on the use of such data, the Central Bank explained. Now, almost all possible biometric services will be available to those who have ever submitted face and voice samples.
The services will not be connected automatically — for this you will need to give a separate consent through Gosuslugi, explained in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko. If a user wants to revoke their biometrics, they can do so there as well.
Due to this, citizens with imported biometrics will be able to access contactless payment for purchases and transportation without re-registration, use biometrics instead of a pass (BioSCUD), as well as eSIM and fan card registration, Dmitry Grigorenko's office emphasized.
In addition, in the second half of 2025, it will be possible to use biometrics to confirm the age of 18+ when purchasing goods at self-service cash desks — so far this service is available only in a number of vending machines.
Why do I need biometrics?
The government's initiative will allow many Russians to access biometric services, explained Nikolay Kozak, Deputy Chairman of the Board of DOM.RF Bank. They are in high demand from the public — for example, the number of accounts opened in the organization using biometrics has increased by a third in just six months. And in Sberbank, the volume of biometrics payments in the first six months of 2025 reached 72.7 billion rubles, which is 20 times more than in the first half of last year, the organization's press service said.
"As biometrics payments spread, interest in this technology is growing among the population," Olga Alekseuk, head of the Department of Innovative Digital Business Technologies at the PSB, confirmed.
Face identification is now being actively implemented in various fields, said Alexander Bleznekov, head of the Information Security department at Telecom Exchange. The advantages of biometrics are easier access to services, shorter identification time, and more secure procedures.
Of the 20 million new users, about 25% will actually start using biometric services, says Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. Not everyone will immediately perceive this opportunity as a blessing, but as the functionality expands, the number of Russians who will adopt the new technology may also grow.
The creation of a Unified biometric system as a whole has caused many concerns among citizens, Vladimir Chernov recalled. People's fears about data leaks in other areas, such as from banks' databases, play a role.
How safe is it to take biometrics
"During the entire period of operation of the EBS, there has not been a single leak of biometric data of customers," the press service of the CBT emphasized.
Even if it had happened, it would have been almost impossible to use this information, Alexander Bleznekov added. The attackers would simply receive a set of encrypted facial data — the so-called vector. It is impossible to identify a person using it, and it is useless for hacking.
In the case of EBS, leakage is almost impossible, Daria Verestnikova, commercial director of SafeTech Group, is sure. Data is well protected — sophisticated encryption methods are used during transmission and storage, and connections are protected to high standards. The main risk is errors in face or voice recognition, but it is also minimized. If in doubt, the system can request additional confirmation, such as a PIN, password, or phone information.
The state needs biometric data primarily to digitalize public services, combat fraud, and simplify interaction with citizens, Vladimir Chernov emphasized. However, people are, of course, afraid of the prospect of excessive control using biometrics.
At the same time, the police and special services do not use data from the EBS — it is needed only for the provision of state and civil services, Alexander Bleznekov emphasized. The system is not connected to video surveillance cameras and is not used for surveillance — this is a separate technology used by law enforcement officers, it is not related to the CBT.
The market for biometrics services will grow rapidly in the coming years, the expert noted. New ways of using it will appear, for example, systems that use several features at the same time: face, voice, fingerprints. Behavioral biometrics can also develop, when a person is recognized by the way they type or move.
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