Moscow Metro is testing an upgrade to its FacePay face biometric fare payment service that lets passengers entitled to concessionary fares link their Muscovite personal social card to their biometric details so they no longer need to use the card itself to prove their eligibility for a reduced-price ticket.

The test is part of a series of trials for digital services on the Russian capital’s public transport networks that will also see Moscow Metro extend tests of its virtual Troika transit card for fare payments to “ground urban transport” and Moscow Circle Diameters (MCD) trains and enable users of the physical Troika card to top up their balance at station turnstiles.

The public transport provider has also confirmed that it has begun testing the use of Russia’s central bank digital currency, the digital ruble, for fare payments. It reports that “participants of the test group have already purchased two types of Troika cards: 12 souvenir cards and one card with a recorded wallet balance”.

“Fare payment using a Muscovite card with the help of biometrics has started to be tested in the Moscow Metro and on the MCC,” Moscow Metro adds.

“Thanks to the new function, passengers with a preferential fare will not need to put the card to the turnstiles. It will be enough to link it to biometrics in the Metro Moscow app and pass through the turnstiles with a special sticker.”

Moscow Metro reported in July that more than 320,000 passengers have now used its FacePay face biometric fare payment service and announced in August that it would begin testing the digital ruble for fare payments in August.

The public transportation provider officially launched the virtual Troika transit card for Android users in December 2021.

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