Major outage cripples Russian banking apps and metro payments nationwide

A major outage hit Russian banking apps and payments, blocking card use, cash withdrawals, and mobile access for hours.

A widespread outage disrupted banking apps and payment systems across Russia, leaving customers unable to pay by card, withdraw cash, or access mobile banking for hours. According to The Record Media, the incident affected major banks, including Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, T-Bank, and Gazprombank, and impacted multiple regions, including Moscow.

“The combined client base of VTB , Sberbank, T-Bank , and Alfa-Bank amounts to tens of millions of people across the country. Apparently, the scale of the outage is colossal and affects most regions of Russia. Complaints number in the thousands.” reported the Russian website CNews. “For example, in just one hour, more than 3,300 complaints were filed about a Sberbank outage. Over the past 12 hours, 35% of complaints came from Moscow, 8% each from St. Petersburg and the Sverdlovsk region , and 7% and 5% from the Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk regions .”

Media say the outage comes as Russia tightens internet control, restricting apps and cracking down on VPN use.

“Russia’s major banks faced large-scale disruptions to their electronic services on April 3, according to online tracking data and customer reports.” reports Kyiv Independent. “The outage comes as the Russian government has increasingly tightened control over internet access in the country, imposing restrictions on popular apps and seeking to clamp down on the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).“

A temporary outage on April 3 affected Sberbank and spread to other major banks, including VTB Bank and T-Bank. Starting around 10 a.m. Moscow time, customers faced issues with mobile apps, transfers, and ATM withdrawals, forcing many businesses to accept only cash and causing long lines across cities.

Russia’s National Payment Card System said the disruption was due to a technical failure at one bank and did not affect funds. Reports from Kommersant linked it to a Sberbank glitch, possibly worsened by VPN use, shortly after plans to curb VPNs.

“The mass outage comes less than a week after Russia’s Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said on March 30 that the government will work to “reduce the use of VPNs” — one of the few remaining ways for Russian citizens to bypass online censorship.” continues the Kyiv Independent. “Shadayev reportedly asked telecom operators and digital platforms to introduce fees and block users for using VPN services following an order by Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

Local security experts speculate that blocking VPNs likely contributed to the April 3 banking outage, describing it as possible “friendly fire” in comments to Kommersant. Russian authorities have steadily tightened online censorship since the war in Ukraine began, with restrictions accelerating in recent months. In early March, the Kremlin introduced a whitelist system allowing access only to selected, mostly pro-government sites during mobile internet outages. Internet shutdowns have become more frequent, officially justified as security measures against Ukrainian drone attacks.

The Record Media also reported that the outage also impacted public transport, with Moscow metro and suburban train turnstiles unable to accept cards, forcing staff to let passengers pass for free to avoid crowding.

By Monday, reports had largely vanished from many sites. Independent media said the Russian Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor ordered outlets to remove content linking the banking outage to its VPN-blocking efforts.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Russian banking apps)