April 29, 2014. 2GIS analysts found out which Russian cities are most suited for getting by without money in cash. Their research involved 220 cities of Russia that were analyzed in terms of how many local organizations accept international bank cards. Among the factors considered was not the number of such companies per se but their share in the total number of local businesses, SKB-Bank’s press service reports.

As a result, the analysts came with a list of several top cities where life is quite manageable without cash, as a lot of POS actually accept bank cards. Interestingly enough, not only were Moscow and Saint Petersburg off the list of the top two, they did not even make it to the top ten. Nizhnevartovsk, where 41% of organizations accept cards, proved the most ‘cashless’ city in Russia, followed by Surgut (36%) and Arkhangelsk (32%).

Yekaterinburg was given the 6th position in the rating: out of over 50,000 companies operating in the city, only 29% actually process bank cards. According to 2GIS, most of the companies that do accept cashless payments are supermarkets. Restaurants, jewelry shops, sushi bars, and mobile phone stores are among the most ‘cashless’ areas of business.