TNS Studies the Popularity of E-Money in Russia

May 29, 2014

TNS has conducted research on the popularity of electronic payment methods among Russian online shoppers of different age and demographic groups. The survey’s subjects were residents between the ages of 12 and 55, living in cities with populations of over 800,000. Moreover, this study is the first of its kind where TNS has included the 12-17 and 46-55 age categories. In total, more than 2,800 respondents participated in the survey.

Electronic money ranks among the three most popular electronic payment methods for the 12-55 year old age group. The survey found that 97% of respondents have heard of e-money and 46% of them used it to make payments at least once in the past six months. Accordingly, e-money is more popular than online banking and SMS payments, which are used by 31% and 37% of internet users, respectively.

Teenagers tend to choose electronic money for online payments: 53% prefer this method. Meanwhile, electronic money and bank cards are used by the same number of respondents in the 46-55 age group: 68% use each method.

As was the case in past years, the most well-known and commonly used electronic money service in Russia is Yandex.Money. Among residents ages 12-55 living in large cities, 22% used Yandex.Money at least once in the last six months. Respondents reported using other services at the following rates: QIWI.Wallet — 21%, WebMoney — 19%, PayPal — 14%, and Money@Mail.ru — 6%. Yandex.Money and Qiwi are the most popular services among adolescents, each attracting 27% of teen users. Meanwhile, WebMoney and PayPal have managed to draw in only 24% and 14% of that age group, respectively. Adults between ages 46 and 55 chose WebMoney and Yandex.Money at a rate of 46% and 40%, respectively. This group pays with Qiwi and PayPal significantly less at rates of 29% and 27%, respectively.

Men and women use electronic money at the same rates. Most users are managers or professionals with medium to high incomes. Most of them are advanced Internet users (40%), but the proportion of those who have only recently mastered the Internet is also high (35%).

Among young people ages 12-17, boys from homes with above average income who are advanced Internet users actively pay with electronic money. Meanwhile, 14% of the youngest age group already earn money of their own and can spend it online.

The oldest age group is dominated by women (54%), 48% of whom are newcomers to the Internet.

Electronic money is mostly used to pay for mobile services, internet access, home utilities, and purchases at online stores. E-money is also often used for making transfers to other users.

Teenagers spend three times more money on online games than the average wallet user, while the oldest survey respondents pay for goods and services more often. More than 40% of older users pay for utility services in e-money, and over 20% use it to pay fines and taxes.