MAX and NSPK Add QR Payments Just After App Store Purge

Russian messaging platform MAX and the National Payment Card System (NSPK) announced a partnership to build a contactless payment service integrated directly into the messenger as a mini-app.

According to the project announcement, the system relies on dynamic personal QR codes generated within the app and scanned by cashiers at checkout. Transactions route through the Faster Payments System (SBP), which links more than 200 Russian banks. Access to the payment tool is designed to require facial biometrics, with security handled jointly by NSPK and MAX's internal security team.

MAX CEO Farit Khusnoyarov framed the integration as a way to keep users from switching between mobile banking apps and chat windows, claiming checkout would feel as rapid as sending a text.

The roll-out plan, however, ran directly into platform restrictions. On June 3, 2026, Apple pulled MAX from the App Store. Official download links immediately began returning errors, in-store search stopped indexing the title, and existing installations on iOS lost the ability to receive background push notifications.

Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadaev stated that the removal restricted access for roughly 20 million Russian iPhone users. Shadaev maintained that the ministry received no prior warnings or explanations from Apple and pledged that officials would resolve the situation, assuring reporters that the app would recover.

While existing Android builds can be distributed through domestic repositories, restoring transaction alerts and onboarding new users on locked-down iOS devices remains an unsolved practical obstacle.

Source: habr

Partnership announcement: VK