Tinkoff has launched a new service enabling clients of foreign banks to make transfers using their phone number.

At the moment, Tinkoff customers can make transfers to 10 banks in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, namely: Dushanbe City, Alif Bank, CB Kyrgyzstan, Universal Bank, the National Bank of Uzbekistan, ANORBANK, Kompanion Bank, Commerce Bank of Tajikistan, the International Bank of Tajikistan, and Imon International. 

By the end of the year, Tinkoff plans to expand this list to include more countries, notably Armenia, alongside a further 8-10 banks. In 2022, the Company will work to enable phone number transfers across the remaining CIS countries as well as other international regions. Tinkoff also plans to launch reverse transfers from the CIS to Russia, as well as enable transfers between customers of foreign banks that are part of Tinkoff’s network. 

International transfers by phone number can be made through the Tinkoff mobile app or within a customer’s personal account on the Tinkoff website. In the phone number field, customers must select the prefix of the destination country. After this, they simply need to follow the same process as for any standard transfer within Russia –enter the relevant phone number or select it from among their contacts, choose the transfer recipient’s bank, enter the amount and click “Transfer”. The money will then be credited to the recipient’s account instantly. 

Currency exchange is carried out at the rate set by the recipient country’s central bank (with a deviation of up to 2%). This rate is fixed upon entering the transfer amount. In case of sharp fluctuations, the exchange rate will reflect market volatility. Either way, customers will be notified in advance (prior to completion of the transaction) about how much money they are transferring and how much money the recipient will receive. 

Transfers are capped at RUB 150,000. Up to 20 transfers totalling no more than USD 5,000 equivalent are allowed per day, and up to RUB 1.5 m per month. 

International transfers are included in the free transfer limits available to Tinkoff customers. The limit amount depends on the customer’s plan. For instance, Tinkoff Black card holders can make free international transfers of up to RUB 20,000. Above this limit, transfers will be charged at a rate of 1%. 

Sergey Khromov, Vice President, Head of Payments and Transfers, commented: 

“Today, the fastest and easiest way to transfer money is by phone number, as this method does not require any bank details. Tinkoff customers can now make transfers from Russia to 10 banks in 3 CIS countries. We are committed to expanding this service further in the future to connect people all over the world and ensure that transfers become even more convenient.” 

Technical support for transfers via phone number is handled jointly with Right line, the developers of the Xfer platform. 

Tinkoff ecosystem

Tinkoff is an online financial ecosystem centred around the needs of its customers.

The Tinkoff ecosystem offers a full range of financial services for individuals and businesses. With a focus on lifestyle banking, the Tinkoff ecosystem enables customers to assess and plan personal spending, invest their savings, earn loyalty programme bonuses, book trips, buy movie tickets, make restaurant reservations and much more.

All Tinkoff services are accessible via our mobile applications and on the Tinkoff.ru website.

The Tinkoff ecosystem is branchless: its proprietary network of smart couriers can deliver the Company’s products anywhere in Russia in the shortest time span possible, and customer service is handled online and by call centres (both office and cloud-based). Tinkoff is delivering AI Banking strategy and makes active use of AI and machine learning technologies to streamline communications. Their AI voice assistant, Oleg, handles 40% of customer inquiries via chat without any employee involvement and resolves clients’ questions in the call centre in an average of 40 seconds.

All Tinkoff products and most of its IT systems have been developed in-house. Some 80% of the bank’s HQ staff are IT specialists.

The Bank was named “The Most Innovative Digital Bank in Central and Eastern Europe” (Global Finance, 2021), “World’s Best Consumer Digital Bank” (Global Finance, 2018, 2020), “Best Digital Bank in Russia” (The Banker, 2020), “Best Digital Bank in Central and Eastern Europe” (Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2021). In 2020, Forbes included Tinkoff among the top the three Best Russian Employers.

The bank’s parent company, TCS Group Holding PLC, has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange. IFRS net income of TCS Group Holding PLC in 2Q 2021 amounted to RUB 16.1 bn. ROE was 46.1%.