Business payment activity down in Q1 due to seasonality, tax changes - Central Bank of Russia

MOSCOW. May 25 (Interfax) - The number of payment transactions by legal entities amounted to 2 billion units in Q1 2026, totaling 355.3 trillion rubles, according to a Central Bank of Russia report on the development of the national payment system.

The slight decrease in business payment activity in Q1 largely reflects the seasonal and restrained nature of business activity and adaptation to tax changes, the CBR said.

Transfers between legal entities (B2B) constitute the main part of business operations (88% of the total). Compared to Q1 2025, they decreased 11% in quantity and 2% in volume.

Payments to individuals (B2C) accounted for more than half of the total number of business transactions, while in terms of volume they accounted for around 5%. Relative to Q1 2025, their number nearly doubled, while their volume increased 14%.

Business payments to the state (B2G) decreased 9% compared to the same period last year, while the number of payments increased more than 20%.

Around 90% of all transactions, both in quantity and volume, were conducted online. Approximately 8% of the total number of all payments were made using corporate cards. The share of payments on paper continued to decline, amounting to less than 3% by quantity and around 9% by volume.