Mobile operator T2 plans to launch own payment card in 2026

SOCHI. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Mobile operator T2 plans to launch its own payment card at the beginning of 2026, the company's director for the development of financial and innovative services, Elizaveta Guseva, said at the Finopolis forum.

The T2 card will operate based on a BaaS solution (Business Processes as a Service), and the technological partner is the fintech company Paygine, Guseva said.

"Paygine has its own SNBCO [Settlement Non-Banking Credit Organization], and we are taking the partner's infrastructure and implementing a digital card within our T2 application, all client paths and scenarios are ours. For example, when a user transfers money via the FPS [Fast Payment System], it will be displayed as T2 Card. So, essentially, it is the same payment instrument as a regular bank card, without the plastic," Guseva told Interfax.

The parties have already begun the main development stage. On the operator's side, this involves working out all possible client scenarios and front-end work. Paygine will take on the obligations for technical implementation and launching the T2 card within the operator's mobile application.

"We are implementing the entire client journey on our side. Financial services and corporate products are in one application, so we must consider all the experience we have formed with the subscriber from interacting within the operator's ecosystem," Guseva said.

The parties are already at the stage of system integration. In December, the card will be tested among T2 employees who are subscribers of the operator as part of a pilot project, and it will be launched for all its subscribers at the beginning of 2026. Further expansion of the project beyond T2's subscriber base is planned.

T2 plans to launch a cashback program, a bonus program that will function as a savings account, Guseva told Interfax.

Currently, T2 is developing a loyalty program for future users of the payment card.

"In order for the maximum number of transactions to go through the card and for the client to be interested in paying with it, offers based on lifestyle services are needed. We will integrate online clothing stores, food delivery services, travel, and entertainment services, so that the client receives cashback when paying in our application," Guseva said.