Russia’s Fast Payment System (FPS) suffered a major disruption on Thursday, causing widespread transaction delays and sparking thousands of user complaints, according to data from monitoring services Downdetector and Sboy.rf.
The outage began around 4 p.m. Moscow time, with nearly 4,500 incident reports filed within a single hour. Most complaints came from users in Moscow and St. Petersburg, who reported being unable to complete instant money transfers through the FPS platform.
The disruption of the Central Bank-operated FPS also affected key financial services, including those of Sberbank, T-Bank, Ozon Bank and Yandex Pay.
The National Payment Card System (NPCS), a division of the Central Bank that oversees the FPS, confirmed the outage and attributed it to an unspecified “incident” involving one of its service providers.
“The system is experiencing delays in transaction processing. Further information will be provided once services return to normal,” NPCS said in a statement.
This spring, at least three separate disruptions were reported over a two-week period in late March and early April. During those incidents, users also experienced problems with mobile apps and payment processing.
State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor later confirmed the latest FPS failure and its cascading effects on affiliated services. However, the agency said no evidence of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattack had been found on the payment system’s infrastructure.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
