International payments have ceased to be an occasional problem for Russian users. After 2022, the market went through a stage of emergency adaptation and transitioned to a more mature model. Users are no longer simply looking for any working payment method. Today, they evaluate the cost of the transaction, speed, probability of successful payment, limits, quality of support, and the legal transparency of the service.
The turning point was March 5, 2022, when Visa and Mastercard announced the suspension of their operations in Russia. For users, this meant that the familiar bank card was no longer a universal tool for paying for foreign websites, apps, and travel. However, the habit of paying by card did not disappear. According to the Bank of Russia, in 2025, 72.7 billion transactions worth 154.3 trillion rubles were made using payment cards. On average, there were 3.6 bank cards per resident of the country.
The mass user still needs a familiar payment instrument. The card remains the most understandable method of payment: a familiar interface, balance, limits, transaction history, refunds, and support. Therefore, the virtual card has become not a compromise, but a logical response to the changes in the international payment infrastructure.
Today, demand is shaped by two main scenarios.
The first is foreign travel. In 2025, Russians made 31.5 million trips abroad, with the tourist flow growing by 15.6% and reaching 13.4 million trips. During travel, the card is used not only to pay for air tickets and hotels. It is necessary for taxis, car rentals, deposits, local services, online check-ins, subscriptions, and unforeseen expenses.
The second scenario is digital services and the subscription economy. According to DataReportal, by the end of 2025, 94.4% of Russia's residents used the internet. This is practically the entire active audience that daily uses applications, cloud services, educational platforms, marketplaces, and tools for working with text, images, video, and software code.
Foreign subscriptions still occupy a significant share of Russians' digital spending. According to a GetPayAll study published by CNews in July 2025, 48% of respondents use foreign services officially unavailable in Russia, and 42% continue to pay for foreign subscriptions. In the same study, 37% of users spent from 500 to 1,000 rubles per month on digital services, 29% spent from 1,000 to 2,000 rubles, and another 12% spent more than 2,000 rubles.
According to NAFI data for November 2025, 47% of paid subscription users paid for online cinemas and streaming services, 38% for banking subscriptions, and 34% for marketplace subscriptions. An additional growth factor was AI services. According to VTsIOM data, 51% of Russian internet users have used neural networks in the past year.
For the payment market, this means one thing: international payments have become a regular, and in many cases, daily necessity. A user can live in a ruble-based economy, earn income in Russia, and yet pay for foreign services every month. Consequently, the product must be designed not for a one-off operation, but for constant use.
Over the past few years, the market has changed significantly. If previously users resorted to help from acquaintances abroad, intermediaries, or various exchange schemes to pay for foreign services, today the main criterion is convenience. Clients expect a simple and understandable payment scenario, comparable to familiar banking services.
A foreign bank card suits those who can open and maintain an account outside Russia. Intermediaries are convenient for one-off operations but do not give the user full control. P2P and cryptocurrency transfers are effective for an experienced audience but require understanding networks, fees, rates, and potential risks.
Gift cards solve only a limited range of tasks and rarely become a universal payment instrument.
The main competition is gradually shifting from the plane of "is it possible to pay" to the plane of payment product quality. Today, what's important is the conversion rate of successful operations, transparent fees, card issuance speed, clear limits, the possibility of refunds, risk management, and operating within a clear legal model. This is no longer a market of temporary solutions, but a full-fledged market of financial services.
Virtual cards fit organically into this model. According to Juniper Research estimates, the global volume of payments via virtual cards will grow from $5.2 trillion in 2025 to $17.4 trillion by 2029. The growth is driven not only by demand from private users. Companies are also actively using virtual cards to control expenses, manage limits, business trips, subscriptions, and payments for digital services.
For a user from Russia, the value of a bank card is formed from several factors simultaneously. The card must be issued quickly, topped up in a familiar way, display a clear balance, support recurring payments, work with e-wallets, and have transparent fees. If even one of these elements is missing, the service again turns into a temporary solution.
No less important is the issue of regulation. A user may not understand licenses and jurisdictions, but they feel the difference between a platform with transparent rules and a random intermediary. For a financial service, client identification, clear limits, refund rules, transaction blocking mechanisms, fraud protection, and quality support are crucial. The more a person uses the service, the higher the importance of these factors.
It is here that a new business opportunity is forming. An international payment is no longer an additional function of a bank card. It is a standalone product with its own economics: customer acquisition cost, reuse, average top-up amount, share of successful operations, support load, operational risk level, and user retention. Competitive advantage goes to companies that can effectively manage these metrics, not just promise the ability to pay for foreign services.
At Unbank, we are building our service based precisely on this logic. It is designed for users who need a payment instrument for foreign services without opening a foreign bank account. The user can top up a virtual card with rubles and use it for online and offline payments. The value of the product lies not in the virtual card itself, but in the complete payment scenario: top-up, issuance, management, expense control, and use across various categories.
In parallel, we are developing a B2B direction for companies engaged in foreign economic activity. It covers paying invoices to foreign suppliers, settlements under foreign trade contracts, and international transfers. This activity is strictly regulated, and our existing set of licenses allows us to conduct it in accordance with established requirements. We provide full documentary support: from checking the invoice and contract to paying the supplier and providing closing documents. Depending on the deal structure, settlements can be conducted in various currencies.
We are convinced that the international payments market will continue to move from temporary solutions to full-fledged financial infrastructure. The user has already passed the stage of being willing to pay for any working scheme. Today, they compare services just like any other financial products: based on cost, reliability, transparency, quality of support, and stability of results.
For companies, this means a new level of requirements. It is no longer enough to simply issue a card to a client. It is important to provide a full payment experience: clear terms, transparent fees, stable service operation, and minimal operational risks.
The international payment has finally formed as a standalone category of digital finance. For the user, it is an opportunity to maintain access to familiar services, travel, and foreign purchases. For the market, it is a new segment where competition will be built not on bold promises, but on the quality of the payment infrastructure.
