UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 6, 2018. The number of MegaFon Ural’s customers who use their smartphones to pay for their shopping has tripled since the start of the year. According to MegaFon’s analysts, the option is mostly popular with men, who make up 70% of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay users, the company press service says.

Smartphones got used for nearly 40,000 shopping transactions at all kinds of Ural stores in July (total amount: RUR 12.1m).

Every other payment was made at a grocery store/restaurant/bar/cafe/bakery. Gas-filling stations, pet shops, taxis, and pharmacies were also popular payment locations.

It appears that Google Pay users are spending more than others: on average, a Google Pay user spends RUR 332 per transaction, which is 5% more than for iOS users.